The Demon Queller Chronicles
by chadmaako
Summary: This is the story of a group of rather eclectic characters brought together by fate. Typical teenage girls by day, a rock band by night and demon and vampire hunters by later night. The world knows them as Demon Queller. They've got a unique problem. The underworld knows who they are and are ducking them. The answer? Go on tour! Rated M for language, sexual content and bitchiness.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **As you can no doubt tell, this is the first chapter in what will hopefully be a series of adventures starring Demon Queller, an all-girl rock band based out of Portland, OR. This group was first introduced in my story 'Alexia The Vampire Slayer'. To those of you that are new to the world I've built around Alexia and, by association, Demon Queller as a whole, I do suggest checking that story out. Given that it's well over two hundred chapters, just reading Chapters 198 - 207 will be a great asset to you. These chapters, more than any others will give you the greatest grasp on who these girls are.

I've decided that they kind of deserve their own series. I'll try to update it when I can. Hopefully once a week. That's my goal at any rate.

Now, I know a lot of people are a bit gun shy when it comes to Original Character stories. I'm hoping, just maybe, this will change that opinion. A lot to ask for, I know, but who knows, right?

So please, read and review. If you have the desire to bust my hump, feel free. Tell me what I'm doing wrong, but offer advice on how to fix it. Constructive criticism is always welcome. But more important than all of that, enjoy.

**Chapter 1**

Neo paced back and forth, excitement causing her to be restless. She couldn't wait until they were on the road. She stopped milling about and turned to regard the beautiful chestnut haired woman that had been sharing her bed for the past week. Ever since Talia had shown up, Neo couldn't argue that she'd been a bit calmer. The Watcher was smart as they came. She seemed to know just what to say and just what to do when Neo was in what the girls all called 'one of her moods'.

When Talia had suggested that the girls put together a tour, Neo felt dumber than a sack of hammers. And Cerri, being the brains of the operation, wasn't far behind. All of them felt kind of stupid for not thinking of it themselves.

But she supposed that was the point of a Watcher. Fresh ideas. Talia and Cerri both worked tirelessly with Rite in Point Defiance to get a schedule and some locations mapped out. They were going to be traveling down Highway 101 along the Oregon Coast, playing dates in the towns along the way. Cerri and Talia had been smart and made sure to book their shows a few days to a week apart as to not exhaust themselves.

They'd be able to patrol the towns and play their sets without having to worry about getting messed up and not having time to heal up properly. The woman was a genius, pure and simple. Neo grinned widely as she slept. _She's a demon in the sack, too_. The potential thought, lewdly.

A sudden blaring of an air horn rent the air. Talia shot upright in bed. "What on earth…?" She said, looking about groggily.

"No fuckin' clue." Neo turned and looked at her alarm clock. It was just after seven in the morning. The girls didn't get back from their show until almost one. She quickly pulled on a pair of sweat pants and t-shirt. She tugged her boots on, but didn't bother tying them. "Someone's gonna fuckin' bleed for this shit." She stepped over to the door and stopped, looking at the woman. "Best cover yourself up."

Talia pulled the blanket up over her exposed breasts and nodded. Neo wrenched the door open and ran through the apartment. All four of the other girls were opening their doors as another blast of the horn sounded. "What in the hell is that?" Quan asked.

"Someone that better have their insurance paid up." Neo said as she left the room, thundering down the metal staircase that led to the main floor of the warehouse. "Motherfucker wakin' us up and seven in the fuckin' morning. Bullshit." She ran across the building and to the fire door. She unlocked it and threw it open…

To see Steele's big blue Peterbilt hauling a large flatbed trailer with two extremely large masses secured under a pair of tarps. The big redhead stepped out of the rig and dropped to the ground. "Sorry I didn't call first." Steele said, smiling. "Left Point Defiance and realized once I hit Olympia that I didn't have my damn cell with me."

Neo chuckled and ran over, throwing her arms around the woman. "That's alright. We forgive you."

"Good to see you again, Kid." Steele said, happily. The rest of the girls finally managed to make their way down. "Good. Gang's all here." Her eyes then settled on Talia. "Decided to keep you around, huh?"

The woman smiled. "They love my winning personality."

Steele looked at Neo. "She's good in bed, isn't she?"

"Strip the chrome off your smokestacks, baby." Neo said.

"Is that really all I'm good for?" Talia asked, a little indignant.

"You make a mean spaghetti." Neo said, teasing. She earned a slap on the arm for her cheek. "Okay, okay. You're decent in a fight and if not for you, the girls probably would have tied me up and thrown me in the river by now."

"I hear that. I don't get a good release now and then, I'm a total bitch." Steele said.

"So what is this?" Cerri asked, looking at the trailer.

"Well, you guys are going on tour. Kat decided that you should be able to travel in comfort and style." She moved around, removing the tie-downs that held the tarps in place. "We bought this a few months ago and don't really need it so…" She pulled the first cover off of the mass in the back of the trailer.

"Holy shit." Quan said, stepping forward. The gloss black 1983 Chevrolet Scottsdale pickup glistened in the early morning light. It sported a massive push bumper with four KC lights, two above and two below the mid-bar. In the bed, a large roll bar was situated, with four more KC lights. The rig was lifted and had giant 44 inch tires underneath the beast. "This isn't a pickup. It's a frickin' monster truck." She said, dumbfounded.

"Don't tell me you don't love this thing." Cerri said, giggling.

"I never said that." Quan said, hugging the girl.

Steele pulled out the keys and handed them to the big woman. "She's all yours, beautiful. Try her on. She's a diesel rig, now so…"

Quan took the keys and climbed up on to the trailer, unlocking the door and sliding in. "Wouldn't be the first I've owned."

"You girls may wanna back up bit." Steele said, moving back. "Bitch is loud." Her point was emphasized as the large woman fired the rig up. The rumble was incredible.

"Jesus Christ!" Quan said as she revved it. She couldn't help but grin. "She's got a hell of a lot of power." She shouted over the sound of the vehicle.

Steele made the motion to cut it. As Quan did so, she moved around to the other huge covered object. "This should make things a bit less stressful on the road, ladies." She said, pulling the cover off.

They all stood staring at a beautiful 2014 Pinnacle Fifth Wheel 42' travel trailer. The paint scheme matched the truck, with the notable exception the words 'Demon Queller' painted gloriously across the front and back. "Home away from home." Steele said.

"Oh…" "My…" "Lord." Cerri, Neo and Talia said respectively.

"Come on, Quan." Steele said. "Help me get it hooked up to the rig and we'll pull her down so you guys can look it all over."

After a few minutes of work, Quan powered the truck up and pulled the trailer off the flatbed and out into the parking lot.

"Come and inspect your new toys, girls." Steele said.

The first thing Quan did was pop the hood on the truck. She looked into the engine bay and let out a whistle. "God damn. Took some serious shoe-horning to get that in there."

The rest of the group moved over to look. Cerri, however, being the shortest of them couldn't see the engine. Neo bent down and lifted the girl setting her on the potential's shoulders. "Thanks." Cerri said, happily.

"What the hell is that?" Neo asked.

"6.7 liter Powerstroke Turbodiesel. It's a Ford Engine." Quan said, inspecting it closely. "What's it rated?"

"Four hundred and forty horses. Eight hundred and sixty foot pounds." Steele said. "Mated to an Allison transmission and a Ford nine inch rear end. Kat didn't sleep for almost three days putting this monster together. You can set it to rear or four wheel drive." She gave a wide smile. "I got to check it out. It'll roast 'em off in all six gears."

"I bet." Quan said. "It's gonna pull this trailer like it weighs as much as a box of feathers."

"Yeah, yeah. The truck is nice. I wanna check out this trailer." Neo said, setting Cerri back on the ground.

"Oh, she's nice." Steele said. "Me, Max and Shelby picked it out for you."

Neo looked at her. "There isn't gonna be, like sex funk in here is there? I know you three bitches can't stop touching each other."

"We washed the bedding." Steele said. At the collected looks she got, she laughed. "No, we didn't get freaky in here. That's just fucked up to a level even I'm not comfortable with."

The girls all stepped in and looked around. "This is nicer than our apartment." Cerri said.

"It's got a ton of fold outs, too." Steele said. "Queen size bed in front. Double bed in the back, there. That table drops to form another bed. The sofas both fold out into beds. All told, she'll sleep eight comfortably."

"I like this kitchen." Sadiira said. "Plenty of counter space."

"So…" Quan began, leaning against the counter. "Neo, can you drive something this big?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that you and Talia could cruise in this thing. I can bring up the rear with Cerri and the twins." Quan bit her lip. "That's gonna leave my van here."

"You don't have to worry about that." Steele said. "If it'll make you guys feel a little better about leaving your shit, me, Max and Shelby are willing to hold the fort while your gone. We'll kick it here and keep an eye on your stuff."

Neo nodded. "I like the sound of that." She said, happily. "When can you have 'em down here?"

"Couple hours, give or take. Max speeds like you wouldn't believe." Steele said. Quan and Neo looked at each other and chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Just remembering what I said to Max when I first met her." Neo said. "I told her if she ever came to Portland, she'd be sent home in a box."

"I'm assuming that isn't going to be a problem now, is it?" Steele asked, her voice carrying an edge of menace.

"Oh hell no." Neo said. "Max is cool as fuck. I like her. She's welcome down here anytime. I tend to like people I share a stage with. Remember Faith's birthday party?"

"Best guitarist I've played with." Sadiira offered.

"I'll give 'em a call." Steele said, pulling her phone out.

"Let's start packing, girls. Our first gig is in Astoria tomorrow night." Quan said.

The poppy techno beat sounded into the room. Alexia sat on the sofa in Kat's apartment and looked around. "What the hell is that?" She got up and started sifting around. When the lyrics started up, she grimaced. "Oh, Jesus." She began searching in earnest. She was led to a pair of tattered jeans. "Fuckin' Max." She said, lifting the phone. She hit the answer button. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lexi. Is Max around?" Steele asked.

"Probably asleep with Shelby on top of her." The teen said. "Before we get into that, have you ever heard your ringtone on her phone?"

"Can't say that I have, what is it?"

"_Can't Get You Outta My Head_ by Kylie Minogue." Alexia said, snickering.

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me." Steele said. "That's just…_hurtful_."

"Gotta admit, it's catchy." Alexia said, trying not to laugh.

"So's Gonorrhea." Steele said. "Wake her fuckin' ass up."

Alexia pounded on the door of the girls' room. "Max! Phone call. It's your other girlfriend. So how do they like the truck and trailer?"

"They love it. Figured they would. They're leaving behind the van."

"I figured if they'd leave anything behind, it would be the raptor." Alexia said.

"Quan probably doesn't wanna put a shit load of miles on it, given how old it is."

"Makes sense." Alexia said as the door opened to reveal Max's naked form. "I told her what your ringtone was for her."

"_Enter Sandman_? What's wrong with that?" Max asked, taking the phone.

"It was _Can't Get You Outta My Head_ just now." Alexia said. "And she's pissed about it."

Max furrowed her brow. "Faith!" She screamed. A soft chuckle could be heard from the bedroom. "I swear to god, I'm gonna drill into her head and make her think she's a smurf." Max said, slamming the door. "Bitch." Alexia heard her mumble. She turned back to the sofa laughing.

"Before you chew my ass, Faith changed my ringtone. Probably fucked with all of them." Max said, moving over and flopping onto the bed.

Shelby, hadn't moved a muscle and was still sound asleep.

"I heard. _Enter Sandman_ is a good track. I won't rip you a new one for that. I need you girls to get on the road. We're taking over Portland while the girls are gone."

"Fair enough. We'll be there as soon as we can." Max said, ending the call. She reached over and patted Shelby's leg. "Get up, sleeping beauty."

She girl stirred and pulled the pillow over her head. "Don't wanna. Early."

"Yeah, but we gotta hit the road." Max said, gathering her clothes. "Come into the shower with me. Have a little fun."

Shelby groaned and threw the blankets off. Max stared at her and sighed. "God, you're hot."

"So I've been told." Shelby said, smiling. "I also got this really sexy girlfriend. She's blonde, short…" She grabbed Max's breasts. "Huge tits and a seriously nice ass."

"Sounds like she's got it goin' on. I'd love to meet her." Max said, pulling the girl in.

"Well you can't. She's mine." Shelby kissed her passionately. "But I'll tell her all about you."

"Fair enough." Max said, dragging the taller brunette into the bathroom.

An hour later, Max and Shelby were behind the wheel of Max's Ford racing south toward Portland.

Cerri sat with Shelby going over the system that she used. She pointed out all of the cameras and had even taken the liberty of putting small tabs under each that told her where each camera was located at. It was going to be tough going, but Shelby was fairly certain that she would get the hang of it.

The twins went over every piece of their inventory with Steele. They made it explicit that she was the _only_ person that was allowed to touch their toys. She assured them that she probably knew her way around their hardware better than they did. They then informed her that that was the reason she was standing near the arsenal in the first place.

Max was being given the defense lay out of the building. It had a very high tech security system with a defensive perimeter that would make the building virtually impenetrable.

"Now, there is one thing you have to know." Neo said as the girls finished packing the rigs. "The police will not respond to gunshots, explosions or pretty much any kind of noise down here. So if, for any reason, you need the cops, you _have_ to call them direct."

"Why won't they respond?" Max asked. "One would think World War three being waged down here would gather attention."

"We worked out a deal." Cerri explained. "The cops, by and large know what we do. Most of them believe it. The Commissioner of the Portland PD let out a blanket order that unless a call comes in from our building direct, they're not to respond, no matter what. Only if we call 9-1-1 will someone show up."

"It's more of a benefit than you think." Talia said.

"We're ready." Quan said, stepping over to the three of them. "Thanks for doin' this." She shook each of their hands. "We should be back in about a month or so."

"Take your time." Max said. "We'll make sure we keep shit in check."

"Have fun, girls." Shelby said, hugging them all. She simply shook hands with the twins.

Steele pulled all of them in, regardless of what they tried to do. She even hugged the sisters. Both, strangely warmed up to the embrace immediately. "Take care. Knock 'em dead."

"Don't trash the place while we're gone." Neo offered as she climbed into the Chevy with Talia taking shotgun.

Quan, Cerri and the twins slid into the Raptor. The pair of rigs pulled away, heading toward the coast.

The trio waved at them as they made their way. "Hope they have fun." Shelby said. "This is gonna do them a lot of good."

"Well, it'll do Neo a lot of good." Steele said. She then turned to Max. "Now let's go fix what Faith did to your ringtones, shall we?"

Quan lead the way in the Ford, driving through the massive parking lot and finally coming to NW Front Ave. She took a left on NW Kittridge and followed it to Highway 30 where they immediately got stuck in traffic. "Wonderful." She said, sighing heavily. "This is gonna be fun."

"Look on the bright side. We're on a tour. We're finally getting exposure for our band." Cerri said, cheerfully. "That's gotta be something to look forward to, right?"

Quan shrugged. "What is our first gig, anyway?"

Cerri pulled her tablet out. "Liberty Theater at eight o'clock. It's a small venue. Only six hundred and sixty seven people. Not bad, though. It's an old-timey theater, too. Acoustics should be awesome."

"We opening for someone or are we the headline act?"

"Looks like we're the headliners. Didn't expect that." Cerri said. "There's a local band that's opening for us." She sifted around a little bit. "Some 80's cover band that calls themselves Shining Wizard."

Quan laughed. "The world's worst wrestling finisher."

"Oh, come on. You know we've seen worse than that." Cerri said. "Hulk Hogan's leg drop? How lazy is that?"

"True." Quan said.

"Okay." Sadiira said, from the backseat. "There are a lot of topics we're willing to listen to you two discuss. Cars, sex, music, these are things we can live with. But you will not, I repeat _will not_ get into a debate about professional wrestling." She looked at the pair of them. "Is that clear?"

"You watch it with us half the time." Cerri said.

"Because I'm bored. Not because I enjoy it." Sadiira said. "It's fake, it's hokey and just plain out and out absurd. I'll grant that they're all great athletes, but it's impossible to take seriously."

"She's got a point." Cerri said. "Okay what do you two grouchy pusses wanna talk about?"

"Something other than wrestling." Nadiira said, softly. "What are we likely to find in Astoria?"

Cerri shrugged and flipped through her tablet. She checked the town to see if there have been any strange occurrences. "Looks like…we might have a nest. A few unexplained disappearances in the last few weeks."

"Can we tell how strong it is?" Quan asked.

"Not from this. We're gonna have to get the lay of the land first." Cerri offered. "I'm already starting to build a profile. We should know more by the time we get there."

"How can you build a…"

"I first check to see if there are any open suicides or homicides. Then I check the cause of death against known factors when vampires and demons are concerned. Lord knows we've seen enough of that. I then cross reference that with the missing persons cases. Location, time of day or night they were last seen…the rest is just extrapolation based on simulation software that I put together." Cerri then shrugged. "Put it all together and viola! Cookies."

Quan chuckled. "Sounds like you got it all in hand. Carry on."

The girl settled in with her tablet and went to work. This was the part of her job that she loved. Because of data she was able to get, literally out of nowhere, her girls wouldn't be rushing into the situation blind. And that meant the world to her.

Alice sat with her hand on the wheel and her other hand on the shifter. The big diesel rig rumbled along evenly. Normally, she wasn't a fan of diesels, unless it was a semi like the one Steele drove. But when all was said and done, the Chevy was a pretty nice piece of machinery. They were currently doing sixty heading out of town, once they'd cleared the horrible Portland traffic, and she couldn't even tell she was hauling a forty two foot long fifth wheel. It was nice.

Talia shifted every so often in the seat. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to get comfortable. "My kingdom for my old BMW." She said, finally.

"What was that?" Alice asked, keeping her attention on the road.

"How can you stand sitting in these seats?" The woman asked.

"What's wrong with 'em?" The potential asked. She honestly didn't see the problem. They were about as comfortable as she'd expected them to be.

"They're hideously uncomfortable. My bum hurts and we've only been in here for a half hour."

"Oh, right. You're British." Neo said, snidely. "That explains it."

"What has my being British have to do with anything?" Talia asked, a little incensed.

"You're just not used to American cars is all." Neo offered. "Believe it or not, these are actually really nice seats. I mean, don't get me wrong, they're not patent leather and made from some sort of memory gel or whatever the fuck you find in most European grand tourers, but they get the job done. You're butt just isn't used to it."

"I'm not sure my bum ever will be." Talia said, bitterly. "I much prefer the likes of a Mercedes or a BMW. Even the Jaguar is a better ride than this."

"Well, yeah. But Jags are known for that shit. But something you have to think about. This is an '83. Take a ride in that Raptor sometime. That thing's a sofa with racing pedigree. It's got this thing by miles. Same thing could be said for old Jags, Beamers and Mercs. The older the car, the worse the ride. An '83 of any of those years and you're looking at a ride that would be just as bad as this is."

Talia wanted to argue, but couldn't. She'd had a few cars in her life that were older and had horrible rides. So she decided to change the topic. "Why do you do this? Fighting monsters and demons? What's the real reason?"

"My dad." Neo said, softly. "Most little girls grow up with dolls and toys around the house. I grew up with crossbows, stakes and knives. My bedtime stories were tales of vampires and monsters. When the time came and he finally told me the truth, I was already desensitized to it. I wasn't afraid of learning that the beasts in the movies and on TV were real. He was always preparing me to take up the fight some day. I wasn't sure what his intentions were until he decided to hand me off to Reggie."

"That must have been hard on both of you." Talia said.

"It was. At first I thought he was abandoning me. But as time wore on, I realized that what Reginald was teaching me was things dad never could. I wasn't just learning to fight, I was being educated on the supernatural as a whole. I was being taught the way monsters thought. Everything Reggie taught me created the girl you see now."

"Your profile says that you fought and killed your fist vampire when you were eleven years old."

"It was the night of my eleventh birthday party, in fact. I punched a vampire in the balls and pushed him out the second story window in to the sunlight. He caught fire and died."

"How did you feel after that?" Talia asked, curiously.

"I wasn't really sure how to feel." Neo said. "I mean, on the one hand, I was an eleven year old girl and I just killed a vampire. But on the other hand, I was just an eleven year old girl that had just killed a vampire. It was both exhilarating and scary all at the same time."

"Nice to know you had the common sense to be frightened." Talia offered, smiling.

"See, that's the thing." Neo flicked her eyes to the woman. "That was the first and only time I'd ever been scared of a vampire. Or anything for that matter. Since then I've never been afraid of it. Can't really understand why. Now, instead of fear, I feel anger. I get pissed off at the vampires and demons that I come across. It's the damndest thing. It's like…"

"It's almost as if you feel the need to punish them for daring to exist in your world." Talia finished.

"Yeah. It's a lot like that." Neo said. After a beat she looked at the woman. "Does that make me nuts?"

"No." Talia said, smiling. "It makes you gifted."

"Is that a really nice way of saying I'm retarded or something?" Neo asked.

"Let me put it to you this way. I know, full stop the reason why vampires by and large leave Portland alone." As Neo gave a questioning look, Talia smiled. "It's the same reason why most low-level vampires won't go into a more powerful vampire's territory and begin running amok."

"They know if they draw undue attention to themselves, the master will tune their asses up." Neo said.

"In a nutshell, yes. You've gotten a reputation as being more ferocious, more fearsome than any vampire alive. Given that there are vampires out there older than most current civilizations, that is definitely saying something. Just uttering the word 'Portland' in the underworld conjures the image of the demon girl that has no conscience and will not hesitate to take her time and destroy vampires slow and methodically." She chuckled. "I spoke with Reginald before coming here. You know what he said to me?"

"That I was hard headed bitch that never listened." Neo said, deadpan.

"No. He said that you had more in common with demons and vampires than you do with humans." Talia saw that Neo agreed with her. "What know you of a vampire named Angelus?"

"That he lives in Los Angeles and runs an Investigative Agency out of an office building. That he has a hot as hell receptionist and some wormy ass ex-watcher working for him."

"What do you know of what he used to be?" Talia asked.

"He was a seriously evil piece of work. I know that if we met in a dark alley, I'd introduce his face to his colon."

"What made Angelus so terrifying was that he loved torturing people for hours, days. Sometimes longer. All for entertainment. He would psychologically destroy someone just to watch them suffer." Talia gave Neo a moment. "That's what you seem to do to vampires. You take pleasure in their pain."

"I think watching vampires cry is hilarious." Neo said. "I don't do it as often as I used to and nowhere near as often as I would like."

"But that's the reason you don't get many vampires in this city anymore. It isn't that you'll kill them. It's that they're afraid you'll take your time about it and make them suffer in ways they couldn't imagine."

Neo for her part chuckled. "And they'd be right. The vampires in Portland know it. Soon the whole state is going to know it, too."

Talia sighed and shook her head. "You really are a violent little girl, aren't you?"

"And lovin' every minute of it." Neo said, grinning ear to ear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Neo raised an eyebrow as she followed the Ford into the Lewis and Clark RV park. "Really?" She asked, looking around. "How the hell did this happen?"

"What?" Talia asked, likewise taking in their surroundings. "What are you looking at?"

"We're really staying here?" Neo shook her head. "I gotta talk to Cerri."

"What's wrong with it?" Talia asked her, not understanding. "It looks nice enough."

"Oh, I'm not arguing that." She pulled up to the office and waited as Quan stepped out of the Raptor with Cerri in tow. "I'm just not sure this is our kind of place."

Talia wasn't sure what Neo was getting at, so she decided to drop it. Soon the pair came back out, waving for Neo to follow them as they rolled on. The potential put the truck in gear and did just that. They drove past expensive motorhomes and luxury travel trailers of every size and shape. "These are nice caravans." The Watcher said, nodding. "That one's just like ours." She said, pointing.

Neo cast a cursory glance. The woman was right. It was a carbon copy of their fifth wheel. The paint job was far more boring, but it was still quite nice. She also noticed that everybody was staring at them with expressions ranging from awe to disgust. She chuckled. Being a complete attention whore, she liked it when people stared at her. Explains why she chose to be the lead singer of the band, despite being a damn good guitarist.

They slowly pulled up to the spot they were assigned. With a delicate touch, Neo backed the fifth wheel into the lot and shut the truck down. Given that they had the Raptor to drive around in, they wouldn't need to unhook the trailer from the Chevy. She climbed and looked to Cerri as she emerged from the Ford. "A fucking golf course, Cerri? Really?"

"It was either this or a twenty minute drive to Warrenton." The younger girl shot back.

"The first time we pump our sounds with any kind of volume, _these_ fuckers…" Neo motioned around. "Are gonna be chomping at the bit to get us out of here."

"We're gonna be here, what? Three, four days?" Quan offered. "Now quit your bitchin' and help me hook the camper up."

Neo groused under her breath and did as the larger woman asked. In the span of a half hour, they managed to get the trailer hooked up to the amenities and the fold outs expanded.

They then sat about as the twins went about making lunch and discuss their plans. Cerri had her laptop out and her tablet sitting on the table beside it.

"So we know that there's a nest, right?" Neo asked as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. Cerri nodded. "There can't be very many places to hide in a town this size…"

The younger girl interrupted her. "There's nine cemeteries within a twenty minute drive." Cerri offered as she worked.

"Are you shitting me?" Neo asked.

"That's an awful lot of ground to cover." Talia said, despondent.

"That's why I'm the brains of this outfit." Cerri said, tapping a few things into her laptop. "Gimme a second." She said. She pulled out a small Netgear box from her laptop bag and went about hooking it up to the 60 inch flatscreen television in the cabinet on the wall. "Alright." She tapped a few commands and a satellite map of Astoria showed up. There were several red dots around the greater downtown area. "These are all of the unexplained disappearances and unsolved homicides within the past two years. A total of thirty nine in all." She explained. "If you look closely, there's obviously a pattern." She zoomed in and showed that the pinpoints all congregated around one cemetery. She highlighted the Greenwood Cemetery. "I'm betting dollars to donuts our nest is hiding somewhere in _that_ cemetery. It makes the most logical and strategic sense."

Neo moved over and inspected the image. "What's this, right here?" She asked, pointing to what looked to be a large dilapidated structure at the back end of the cemetery from the Youngs River.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure." Cerri said. "Looks like an old caretaker's cabin."

"Probably oughta check it out." Quan said, shrugging. "Couldn't hurt."

"Alright, we got a game plan." Neo said. "Quan and I are gonna go and check the things out. Get a feel for what's going on." She looked at Cerri. "Do they have surveillance?"

"No." The girl said. "They're pretty backwater."

"Alright. We'll take a few cameras with us and set 'em up on the hotspots." Neo said.

"I'd like to come along." Talia said.

Neo stared at her a moment and thought really hard about telling her no. She mulled it over a moment and nodded. "You're in."

"Eat something before you go." Sadiira said, handing her a plate of steak fajitas.

"Thanks." The girl said, devouring her meal in record time.

Quan was a bit more ginger about it. As was Talia. Soon after they finished eating, the massive tattooed girl sat behind the wheel of the Raptor, heading north on Warrenton-Astoria Highway. "I swear to god, these roads." Quan said, shaking her head. "It's like they let a bunch of chickens loose and just paved over wherever they ran. Barely a straight road in this town."

Neo chuckled. "Remember Lakeland up near Point Defiance?"

"Well yeah, but that made sense. There were lakes all over the damn place up there."

"In this city's defense, rivers cut through like mad." Talia said, from her place in the backseat.

"I suppose you got a point." Quan conceded. She hustled across the bridge and pulled off the highway onto fifth street as the highway turned left. A few blocks later, she turned right onto the Nehalem Highway. "This should take us all the way to the cemetery." She offered off hand.

"I really hope it's a nice sized nest." Neo said. "Fifteen or twenty would go down real good right about now."

"Are you insane?" Talia asked.

"You analyzed me." Neo said, turning to regard her. "What do you think?"

"You don't want to know what I think." The Watcher returned, smirking. "Suffice it to say you're last psychiatrist went easy on you."

"Oh, she could be plenty hard if I wanted her to be." Neo shot back.

"There's something wrong you." Talia said, chuckling.

"Just figurin' that out, are you?" Quan said.  
>"Shut up and drive, you." Neo said, playfully. "I'm just really itching for a good throwdown. In case you ain't noticed, in the week you've been here, how many vamps have we taken down?"<p>

"None." Talia said, nodded. "I understand you're anxious, but twenty vampires in a nest is a touch much."

"Yeah, it is." Neo said. "And it's gonna be dangerous as hell. That don't mean it ain't gonna be fun."

"You're going to get yourself killed." Talia said, her voice carrying an edge of sadness. Yes, she'd only known the violent potential a little more than a week, but in that time she'd already come to respect her. She thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her. Despite what was believed, Neo was far more than just an angry teenage girl with a chip on her shoulder. She was smart, compassionate, studious and monumentally protective of those she called friend. She was also a very, very passionate lover that made Talia truly believe that Neo loved her. Given that the potential never minced words and spoke her mind, it was fairly certain that the girl was already developing feelings for her.

Talia knew that it took time for a relationship to grow. She'd had people in her past that had occupied a special place in her heart. Given her vocation, such relationships were doomed to failure so she never allowed them to grow. It was a lonely existence that she was forced to live, but it was also necessary. Since she was Neo's age, she'd been learning all there was to know about the supernatural threat. Back there and back then, she didn't have time for anything but her studies.

As soon as she graduated from the Watcher's Academy – and having shown a penchant for undercover work – she joined the Deep Cover unit and was sent abroad. Since then, she was forced to move from one mission to the next, using whatever means were at her disposal to accomplish them.

Now, things were different. Now, she was in it for the long haul. Alice was a young girl with a bright future ahead of her, if she survived her lot in life, and Talia was assigned to her long term. She'd be a part of her life until Neo parted the world or got tired of her and sent her home. She found herself desperately hoping that the young potential wouldn't be forced to do the either.

She was shaken from her introspection as the large truck turned off the highway onto the dirt road, aptly named Greenwood Cemetery Road. Neo looked at the old sign as they drove past with a derisive snort. "How fucking creative." She added.

"They're hillbillies. What do you want?" Quan asked as she clipped along.

"Takes one to know one, is that what you're saying?" Alice asked.

"I am _not_ a hillbilly."

"You were born in fucking Randolph, Alabama you hick." Neo said.

"Fuck you, pissy britches. I was born in Greensboro, thank you very much." Quan snapped at her.

"Oh, well excuse the fuck out of me. Population of three hundred and five, instead of three hundred even. My fuckin' mistake." Neo said, sarcastically.

"Try nearly three thousand people, smartass."

Neo chuckled and turned to Talia. "Fun fact. Greensboro also has more alcoholics per capita than people." The Watcher giggled.

"Keep it up, slap nuts." Quan said as they circled around to the broken down structure to the rear of the cemetery. "And I'll replace your KY jelly with Icy Hot."

"I will fucking end you." Neo said, stern faced. "You don't fuck with a woman's sex."

"Keep flapping those lips, sweetie and you'll learn just how vengeful I can be." Quan said as they pulled to a stop.

"Fuckin' all evil and shit." Neo said. "You been hanging out with Alexia behind my back or something?"

"You never know." Quan said, opening the door and looking at her. "Now zip your lip. Game time."

Neo nodded and stepped out of the truck. Talia followed suit, with the black hard plastic case that housed the wireless cameras. "This place has seen better days." Talia offered as she walked along behind the girls.

"Open that case for me." Quan said, stepping over to her. The woman flipped it open and held it aloft. Quan pulled a camera out and switched it on. She then mounted it in a tree across the access road from the building. She pulled her phone out and dialed Cerri's cell. "You got the feed?"

"Gimme a sec." Cerri said, tapping away at her computer. "Coming in now. Can you adjust it left a hair?" Quan did as she asked. "Yeah, we're good. I got the whole building and about twenty feet all around it. That's good. Do me a solid and give me one in the tree to your right. Other side of that road."

"I gotcha." Quan said, grabbing another camera and trotting across the drive. She adjusted it according to Cerri's instructions.

"Alright. If anything comes in or out of that building, we'll know." The girl said. "You guys gonna have a look around?"

"We should, but we're not gonna dig around this place just yet. Let's see what the camera gives us, first." Quan said. "See you in a bit." She ended the call and made her way back to the pair. "She's got the feeds."

Neo nodded and turned back the house. The roof have caved in and left nothing but the walls. "Think there's a basement?"

"It would track. If the vampires are hiding anywhere in this cemetery, this is the most likely place." Talia offered.

Neo looked around and furrowed her brow. "What's that?" She asked, pointing to a space in the trees to their right.

"Looks like…" Quan stepped closer. "Looks like a trail."

"There was a series of buildings back there, according to the satellite image." Talia said.

"Let's go ask 'em if they've seen anything strange out here." Neo said, heading off.

"Jesus Christ, Neo." Quan said, grabbing her arm. "This ain't Portland."

"I'm glad you're here to tell me this shit, Quan." Neo said as she turned and looked at her. "Cause for a moment there I was really fuckin' confused."

"What she's saying is that you can't just walk onto someone's estate and broach questions like that." Talia said.

"Why the fuck not?" Neo asked. "Pretty simple question. Hey, just out of curiosity, you ever noticed anything weird going on in the cemetery over there?" She shook her head. "Seems pretty cut and dry."

"It's a god damn cemetery, Neo." Quan said, rapping the younger girl in the back of the head. "Of course there's weird shit goin' on."

"What's the worst that can happen?" Neo said, heading off. The other two shook their heads and followed her.

Quan was still chuckling as they pulled away from the cemetery. Talia was a little pale. Neo, for her part was still angry as hell. "I can't believe that son of a bitch had the balls to put a shotgun into my face." She let out a growl. "Fucker's lucky I didn't make him eat the god damn thing."

"He did seem rather put off when you took it from him and tossed it into the underbrush." Talia said. Her voice was still quivering a little. They'd knocked on the large trailer door and were greeted with a rather brutish man with a rather large pump shotgun. Neo had tried asking him questions, but all he offered was the obligatory "Get the hell off my property!"

Then he made the mistake of drawing down on Neo. The girl was immediately enraged and disarmed him so quickly, he hadn't had time to register her movement…until he saw his weapon flying through the air to land somewhere in the bushes. Things took turn for the worse from there. Before Quan could intervene, Neo had leveled the man with a hard right cross that would shatter brick.

When the man woke up, he was going to be quite vexed.

"So what's the play now?" Neo asked.

"Hurry up and wait." Quan said. "We let Cerri do her thing. Watch the cameras and see if we can shake something loose."

"Sounds like a shitty plan." Neo griped.

"Any time we ain't crackin' skulls, it's a shitty plan to you." Quan offered.

"Don't you all have a sound check tonight, anyway?" Talia asked.

"Nah." Neo said, shaking her head. "We've got it tomorrow afternoon at five. There ain't shit to do in this damn town, unless you like fishing and golf."

"I told Cerri I'd take her to the Maritime Museum anyway." Quan said, looking at her watch. "If we hurry, it'll give her a little over three hours."

Neo chuckled. "Well, have fun with that." She said, shaking her head.

"Have you ever played golf?" Talia asked. "I mean real golf and not miniature golf?"

"Can't say as I have." Neo admitted.

"Then how do you know you won't like it?" The Watcher asked.

"The same way I know I won't enjoy a hysterectomy with a dull rusty steak knife." Neo said, shrugging. "Call it a hunch."

Talia let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, I believe I can say with a fair degree of certainty that golf is nowhere near as dangerous, painful or blatantly stupid as a major vaginal surgery with rusted kitchen implements."

"Funny." Neo said. "With how boring golf is to watch, I'd almost prefer the surgery. At least it's more exciting."

Regardless of how incredibly stupid the statement was…she really couldn't dispute the deduction. "Well, yes. I'll grant you that though golf is rather dull to watch, it is rather fun to play."

"You really wanna get me on the green, don't you?" Neo asked her.

"Are you doing anything else?"

"She's got you there, Neo." Quan said as the approached the golf course.

"Christ." Neo said, shaking her head. "I will go with you to the driving range."

"You don't want to…" Talia began.

Neo interrupted her. "Driving…range." She repeated. "That is as far onto a golf course as you will _ever_ get me."

"Tell you what? We'll go to the range. If you can strike a ball further than me, we'll spend the rest of the evening doing what you want to do. If I win, you have to play the entire course with me tomorrow before your sound check."

"You just been called out, grouchy." Quan said as she turned the truck off.

"I'm gonna regret accepting the bet, too. I can already tell." Neo said, climbing out of the car. "You're some kinda golfing prodigy or some shit, aren't you?"

"Actually no." Talia said. "I've done a bit of putting, but nothing extensive."

"Uh-huh." Neo said as they made their way into the trailer. "Anything?" She asked Cerri.

The girl turned toward her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah. We've had the entire Vampiric Wars of 1412 break out in the Cemetery since you guys put the cameras up." She shook her head. "It's been twenty minutes, Neo. Chill your biscuits."

"See, now I want biscuits and gravy." The potential said, moving over to get a can of soda from the fridge.

"Come on, Cerri." Quan said, motioning the girl to come with her. "Let's go to the Maritime Museum before it closes."

"Goody, goody." The young teen said, sliding off the bench seat. "Lemme get my jacket and my camera." She donned the matching leather jacket that all of the girls had and grabbed her digital camera. She took Quan's hand as they left the trailer.

"Those two are so cute, they're giving me diabetes." Neo said, finishing her beverage and getting ready to toss the can in the trash.

"This is Oregon. You put that in the trash, I'm shooting you in the ass." Sadiira said from her spot beside her sister. The pair appeared to be watching an old war movie. Neither was looking at her.

"Fuckin' creeps me out that you two can do that." Neo said, dropping the can into the recycling bin. "Come on, British. Let's go crack some balls."

Talia just giggled as she followed the girl out of the trailer. They made their way to the clubhouse and put down the money to rent two driving clubs and a bucket of balls. Neo swung her club about like it was a sword. The driver was sizable and had a good weight to it. She grinned as they walked along the path to the range. "I beat a Vahrall Demon to death with one of these." She said, absently. "Made the fucker cry." She trotted up beside Talia and turned, walking backwards. "Turns out, Vahrall demons have balls."

The Watcher looked at her and shook her head chuckling. "You're terrible."

"Yeah, but that's why you like me." Neo said, turning back around. They made it to their respective tees. "I already know I'm gonna suck at this."

"You never really know, do you?" Talia said.

"Well, I know I hit hard enough that I'm never gonna be let back on the put-put golf course in Portland again." Neo said, teeing up her ball.

"Why is that?" Talia asked as she likewise set her own ball up.

Neo ignored her and got into position. She eyed the furthest point on the range. It was a sizable piece of real estate, measuring four hundred and fifty yards at the net on the far end. She took a few practice swings and then let fly. The club hit the ball with a sharp crack. Pieces of the white outer coating drifted off into the distance as the ball shot away at breakneck speed. "Dammit!" Neo snapped as she reached for another ball.

Talia, not to mention several of the other patrons of the range watched as the ball screamed toward the back portion of the range. The large black and white '400 yards' sign shifted and fell over as the ball smacked into it loud enough to be heard at the tees. "My lord." Talia said, turning to regard the girl.

Neo wasn't paying attention. She dropped another ball and was preparing to hit it. "Fuckin' cheap ass balls."

"Neo, stop." Talia said, resting a hand on her arm. "Do you know how far you just drove that ball?"

"Not very damn far. Fucker broke apart."

"No, just a portion of it, dear. The ball itself, or the remainder thereof hit the 400 yard mark and knocked it over." She pointed down range.

Neo looked and shrugged. "Huh." She said, before lining up again.

Without warning she felt someone step up behind her and wrap arms around her and place their hands over hers. "What you wanna do…" She heard a smooth male voice offer.

She took a step forward, spun and took his legs out from beneath him with the club. As he hit the ground, she had her foot on his neck and the club touching his forehead. "Motherfucker, do not ever, _ever_ touch me." She stared down at him. He was cute, she had to give him that. But she didn't really give a shit.

The manager of the range immediately ran over. "What's going on?" He asked.

Neo kept her foot on his throat. "This son of bitch tried fucking groping me." She said, angered.

Talia was so flabbergasted by the display that she wasn't sure what to say.

The young man looked at Neo – and saw how incredibly angry she was – then looked down at the man as he struggled to breathe beneath her boot. "Could you let him up, please?"

"That depends." She said, regarding her captive. "You gonna keep your fuckin' hands to yourself?" He nodded emphatically. "Good." She said, stepping away from him.

"Jesus, I was just trying to help." He said, rubbing his throat. "Fuckin' bitch."

She stepped up to him and stared him in the eye. "That's right, cum shot. I _am_ a fuckin' bitch. Somethin' you should have thought about before you tried dry humpin' my ass. Now get the fuck away from me before I ram this club so far up your ass, you'd think you were fucked by a train." She glared at him as he stepped away from her.

"Fuckin' psycho." He snapped.

"And bloody fuckin' proud of it." She shot back. In one swift motion she spun and blasted the ball as hard as she could. Luckily, none of the plastic flew off. But the ball did impact the netting at the far end of the range and spun against it before falling to the grass. "Asshole." She snapped.

"You win." Talia said, moving up to strike. She hit her ball and got a reasonable two hundred yard with it. "And I for one am glad that you aren't going to be playing golf with me. I don't think the course would survive it."

"Well, if that shit-knuckle is anything to go by, I can guarantee the other golfers wouldn't." Neo said, cracking another ball, resulting in a hard bounce off the fallen over sign. She teed up again and looked and noticed the older couple beside her staring at her. "Something I can help you with?" She asked. She desperately tried to keep the harshness from her tone.

"You remind us of our granddaughter." The elderly woman said, softly. "She passed away about two years ago."

"That sucks." Neo said, honestly. "Guarantee I'm more of bitch that she was."

"Oh, she was a firecracker, just like you." The man said. "What's your name, little lady?"

"Alice Frog, sir." She said, offering her hand. "I am really sorry about your granddaughter."

Talia watched her and was stunned. Neo was full of contradictions.

"Thank you, sweetie." The woman said, hugging her. "You keep on being the free spirit you are. The world doesn't have enough girls that think and feel for themselves."

Neo gave her a bright smile. "I will, ma'am." She said, returning her hug. The pair left and the potential went back to driving the golf balls.

"You surprise me sometimes." Talia said, shaking her head.

"Yeah." Neo said, sighing. "Myself too."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She awoke with a start. She turned and looked at Cerri as the girl stood, shaking her foot. "Get up. There's something you need to see."

"Lemme get dressed." Neo said.

"Yeah. Because I've never seen you naked before." The young hacker said, leaving the room.

Alice chuckled as she slid to the foot of the bed, grabbing a pair of jeans, a change of underwear and a tank top. She jumped through the shower and went out into the main area of the trailer. "You got some interesting video to show me?" She asked as she grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. She then saw the look on everyone's face. "What happened?"

"You might wanna sit down." Cerri said.

"Okay." Neo said, taking a seat on the counter. The young teen brought the footage of the night before up on the television. The imagery was a sickly green color, telling her that it was night vision. She saw what she expected to see. Figures coming and going from the old dilapidated structure. "It's a nest." She said, nodding. "At least now we know. We'll take 'em all out tonight and have a little fun."

"Keep watching." Quan said, her tone a bit pessimistic.

Neo was a bit concerned and kept her eyes on the screen. Cerri sped up the video. At roughly three thirty in the morning, an old school bus with heavy curtains over the windows pulled up to the building. It appeared as if the entire nest climbed on board and pulled away. Cerri kept running the video until it stopped and showed them real time. "They never came back." The girl said, looking to Neo.

The potential sat, staring at the screen, speechless. "No." She said, softly. "No…fucking …WAY!" She finished with a scream. "They just up and _left_?" She hopped off the counter and began pacing. "What kind of pussy-whipped, chicken-shit, cock-stacker, fucktard bullshit is that?" She looked at Cerri. "Which way did they go?"

"I don't know. I tried tracking the traffic cams, but once they got south of the cemetery, I lost 'em." The girl shook her head. "But it's not like there's anything we can do about it. We've got a concert tonight."

"Motherfucker!" Neo said, rage in her voice.

"Hashtag Lame." Cerri said, going back to her computer.

Neo felt Talia's arms wrap around her from behind. "Not right now, Talia." Neo said, shrugging her off.

"Yes now." The Watcher said, turning the girl around. She pulled her in and kissed her. "Right now."

"I'm pissed off, okay?" The potential said. "I'm not in the mood."

Talia took her hand and pulled her toward the back of the trailer. "Then I'll have to work twice as hard to put you in the mood, now won't I?" She then looked to the rest of the girls. "Why don't you lot go and get breakfast. Take your time. Bring back something."

Cerri smiled and nodded. "Okay." After cleaning up and getting dressed the four girls left and piled into the truck. Given that it was just after eight in the morning, there wasn't much open aside from the typical fast food chains. They saw a McDonald's, a Burger King and a Subway, just to name a few. "I don't wanna eat someplace that isn't kind of unique." The girl said.

"What about this place?" Quan asked, pointing to Stephanie's Cabin Family Restaurant. "Seems decent."

Cerri immediately brought up the establishment. "According to the website, it's got decent food and is worth the price, overall."

Quan looked to the twins. They regarded her with a raised eyebrow each. "Right." The big woman said, turning into the parking lot. "Why do I even bother asking you two?"

The girls climbed out of the rig and headed inside. They were seated so they could keep an eye on their truck. The restaurant wasn't very busy so ordering was a breeze. Cerri chose an omelet with ham, cheese and green peppers in it. Quan ordered the country fried steak with eggs over easy. The twins both decided on a Rueben Sandwich.

The waitress brought their drinks and let them alone while they waited for their breakfast. "Neo's gotta be goin' out of her mind with this shit." Quan said, sounding genuinely concerned for her friend. "She needed this fight something fierce."

Cerri nodded. "I almost didn't wanna show her."

"She would have killed you if she'd found out you withheld it from her." Sadiira said, softly. Her sister nodded her agreement.

"I know." Cerri said, her voice small. "I was actually scared of what she was going to do when she saw it."

"She'd never do anything to hurt you, you know that." Quan said, patting the petite girl's shoulder.

"I know that." Cerri said, nodding. "Neo loves me like a little sister. She'll do anything to protect me. You all will. But she's just been so…so angry lately. More than usual. I'm really worried about her. Her blood pressure has to be through the roof."

Sadiira shook her head. "Actually, it isn't. She has really good blood pressure. We give her weekly checkups."

"Why aren't you two concerned?" Cerri asked.

"Because knowing Neo, she'll find a way to get her frustrations out." The verbose sister shot back.

Neo lay on her stomach with her face resting on her arms. Talia sat across her bottom kneading the strong muscles on the girl's back. "I just hope this doesn't become a thing."

"Heaven forbid." Talia offered, light hearted.

"Do I sound like I'm fucking joking?" Neo snapped at the woman.

"No. But I was. How long have you been fighting vampires?" Talia asked. "Actively leaving your home with weapons in hand _hoping_ to run afoul a beast of the night?"

"Probably a since a couple months after my eleventh birthday. I patrolled the neighborhood around Reggie's house. Walking people home from the library or the store. Walking people to and from their cars. Shit like that."

"And at that age, you were good at it?" Talia asked.

"I could hold my own. I mean I wasn't the baddest thing in the dark, but I got by."

"Even back then, did you ever come close to death? Were you ever nearly killed? Any extended hospital stays?" Talia asked her as she worked a hard spot just beneath Neo's left shoulder.

"Once. I was twelve. Vampire broke two ribs and collapsed my lung. I had to have my lung inflated and my chest wrapped. I was out of commission for like, three days." Alice offered.

Talia stopped. "How old were you, again?" She asked, somewhat shocked.

"Twelve. I just said." Neo returned. "Why does that matter?"

"You're telling me that you were only off of patrol for three days after surgery like that?"

"Doc said I should take it easy for something like…three weeks?" Neo seemed unsure. "It was something like that. But I just blew off his shit and went back out."

"And you never suffered such again?" Talia asked her.

"No. I mean my shit was sore as hell and when I moved wrong, I nearly blacked out. But when the shit hit the fan and I had the adrenaline goin' I couldn't tell I was even hurt. I just got home, soaked in a hot tub and popped a couple of ibuprofen, naproxen sodium or aspirin." She shrugged. "I had to change it up whenever I needed to keep from building a tolerance to shit."

The woman just shook her head, but continued with her massage. "I want you to think about it. You've been actively hunting since you were eleven years old. A child, not even into puberty and you were going toe to toe with creatures that can rend steel and shatter stone with their bare hands. Did you ever have help?"

"Not really." Neo said. "Reggie would come out with me on occasion, but mostly I went by myself. I didn't do nests and shit until I was fourteen and even then, it was four, maybe five at a time. I didn't really bite off more than I can chew. The older I got, though the cockier I got."

"Is that what led you to attack the nest that night?" Talia asked.

"Yeah, for the most part." Neo sighed. "I didn't do my homework. Up until then, the most I'd ever taken on by myself was twelve, maybe thirteen. But that nest…it was fucking huge. Must have been almost thirty vamps in that crypt." She shook her head. "It was pretty fuckin' sobering, let me tell you."

"Were you scared that night?"

Neo was quiet for a long time. Finally she answered. "No. I know I should have been, but I wasn't. I didn't wanna die. Not like that. Not like a rat in the fucking sewers."

"Why did you run?" Talia asked. "Why not stay in the crypt and fight to the last?"

"I've been asking myself that for almost two years." Neo said, softly. "Something told me to run. I just…I got this feeling that if I ran, somehow, I'd survive to fight again. So I legged it." She chuckled. "Turns out that little voice in my head was spitting it straight. I ran for a while in the sewers and met up with Quan."

"From the sounds of it, the powers that be had plans for you." Talia offered.

"Guess so." Neo said, simply. "I just wish I didn't have this reputation. I mean we've only been in town one day and already the vamps took off."

"Well, tell you what? We'll play the show tonight and after we'll climb into bed and let nature take its course."

"Sounds like something I can grab onto. Maybe I can get Cerri to locate a back alley brawl or something. Some underground bare knuckle action." Neo said. "It ain't vampires, but it's better than nothing."

"You really want a fight that badly?" Talia asked.

"Put it to you this way, British…" Neo turned over underneath the woman. "I had sex with you right now, I'd hurt you."

Talia leaned down and kissed the girl intently. "I just might let you." She returned, smiling lasciviously.

The doors of the theater opened at six PM sharp. The girls were actually rather pleased to learn that the concert had been sold out. Doing the math, Neo realized that the girls would be pulling in almost two thousand dollars for the night. It was the most profitable show they'd ever played.

Shining Wizard, a five piece band of high school kids took the stage at six thirty. The girls sat in the dressing room, prepping to take the stage. They were ecstatic to learn the Rite had put a shout out on the website in every city the girls were scheduled in for some roadies to help set up their equipment. That allowed them to concentrate on getting their look just right.

"This is biggest show we've ever played." Neo said as she leaned forward, doing her makeup. She applied eyeliner, a hint of dark eye shadow. She then added a hint of blush and some bright red lipstick. She'd washed her hair and let it dry naturally, giving it that 'just fucked' look to it. Her role in the group was the 'slutty wild girl'. Her clothing, consisting of skin tight leather pants with laces up the sides of the legs, a black leather brassiere and high heel boots that came to her knees portrayed the image in grand fashion.

Quan sat beside her, likewise meticulously working. "I know. I'm kinda nervous." Like Neo, she did the eyeliner, eye shadow and blush. She went with paler colors that accentuated her natural skin tones rather than contrast with them. She was sort of the odd duck when it came to the roles of the band. Hers was the 'biker bitch slash southern girl next door' shtick. Tonight she'd decided on a pair of tattered jeans with strategic tears along front and back of the legs, a half-tee with a pair of heavy black army boots. Her skin art was all on proud display, as was her massive heavily muscled arms.

"No reason to be nervous sweetie." Cerri said as she applied her own makeup. She wore very little, to be honest. Cerridwen was the bands resident 'lolita' character. She wore a Japanese school girl outfit, complete with bowtie and shiny dress shoes. Her raven black hair was pulled up and tied into a pair of pig tails that hung to her shoulders. "This isn't any different than any other concert we've played. We just go out and do what we do best."

Sadiira and Nadiira both were the token 'badass' girls. They both donned black fatigue pants and camouflage tank tops with army boots. For makeup, they went with standard dark eyeliner and lipstick, but nothing else. Having mocha colored skin, they didn't see the point. The pair made great lengths to be indistinguishable from each other and that extended to their on stage personas. "This is the second best thing we do." Sadiira said as she added the finishing touches.

Talia watched the group and could see that they were quite professional about what they did. She turned to the monitor in the room and watched as Shining Wizard finished their forty five minute set. "How long do you girls intend to play?"

"We usually like to give our crowds two, two and a half hours. Not counting intermission." Neo said. She turned to Quan. "Remember that all nighter we pulled at Holocene?"

"That was so damn fun." The big woman said.

"You played all night?" Talia asked. "From when to when?"

"We hit the stage at seven and played till almost five in the morning." Cerri said. "We took breaks every couple of hours. They stopped serving alcohol at two, like normal, but people just didn't wanna leave. The club manager let the party go on and we just kinda never stopped. That was about five or so months ago. It was pretty awesome."

"We were exhausted afterward, but it was worth it." Sadiira said.

There was a knock on the door of the dressing room. Talia moved over and opened it. A man with a headset and a clipboard leaned into the room. "You guys are on in five."

"Thank you." Talia said, smiling at him. She shut the door and turned to the girls. They all rose to their feet. They looked every bit like a rock band. She chuckled and pulled her phone out and snapped a photo. "Perfect." She stepped up to Neo and kissed her passionately. "Knock them dead."

"I would have, but the fuckers left town." The potential said, giving her smirk. "I'll just have to settle for blowing these poor bastards' eardrums out."

She hugged each of the girls as they walked past to take the stage. She followed them and stood off to the side as they took their positions. Cerri climbed behind the _enormous_ drum kit and lifted her sticks. She spun them in her hands to limber up. She adjusted the microphone a little closer and looked everything over, nodding. Talia could see the large coffee can filled with extra sticks beside her on a stool. It was obvious the girl went through them like crazy.

Quan had three Ibanez bass guitars sitting on stands behind her as she strapped on a fourth. She thumped out a quick bassline and nodded before plugging in. The guitar hung low on her massive frame.

Sadiira, like her larger band mate, had her own guitar slung down low. Talia knew for a fact that Sadiira had the kind of fingers on the guitar that would make most speed-metal strummers jealous. She could play virtually anything by ear alone and was a prodigy with strings. She and Quan did have a rather significant bone of contention when it came to guitars. Quan favored the Ibanez, while Sadiira swore by her Gibson SG's. "If it's good enough for Angus Young, it's good enough for me." The smaller girl said. Her sister, though she favored the keyboard and worked the rhythm guitar on some of their tracks, agreed with Sadiira.

Talia was actually excited. She peeked out into the crowd from behind the curtain as the girls readied themselves. The gathering was eager.

The girls all gathered around the drums and whispered amongst themselves then nodded. They moved back to their marks. Nadiira stepped away from the keyboard with a guitar that matched that of her sister.

The curtain rose and Cerri grinned widely. In her cutest, most innocent voice said, "When I grow up, I wanna be a rockstar." She then immediately began pounding the ever loving shit out of the giant drum kit. A few seconds later, Quan and both Rajni sisters let out with their guitars. Neo gripped the microphone and began belting out the first song of the night. _We're An American Band_, originally cut by Grand Funk Railroad, then lovingly reimagined by Rob Zombie, now covered by the girls of Demon Queller filled the theater.

The crowd went absolutely bananas. No one was sitting down. Talia had been to concerts before. She'd been in the audience when those first powerful chords tore the air. She knew that first shot of adrenaline well. But for some reason it was different from where she was standing. She could see firsthand how the crowd's responses fueled the girls on the stage. Neo pulled the microphone off the stand as Sadiira went into her solo did something that made Talia actually giggle like a schoolgirl. It solidified that Neo took inspiration from one of the greatest classic rock bands of all time.

The girl let the microphone slide from her hand, catching it by the cord and swung the implement rapidly by said cord. She then yanked the line, snatching the mic and continuing her aggressive vocals. Talia could see a few older patrons of the crowd recognized the display for what it was and cheered happily.

The tone quickly shifted as the girls played a song of their own making. Talia had heard them play it before in practice. It was aptly named _Warrior's Soul_ and it was almost a self tribute. A song that spoke of themselves. They were warriors to the core and always would be. It was a very true to life representation of the girls and what they struggled through to be where they are. Each of them had faced personal tragedy and the song spoke to that. It illustrated that, though the world would believe them beaten and broken, as most people would have been, they rose against the odds.

Five girls from various corners of the world, finding each other, drawing strength from one another, becoming one of the most dangerous forces the supernatural had ever seen.

And so it went. Demon Queller gave everything they had to the fans. They interspersed a few covers here and there, but did a good deal of their own work.

After the first intermission, a little over an hour in, Neo again took center stage. "You guys have no idea what this means to us." She began, holding aloft a large bottle of water. "A bit of toast to the fans. Without you, we wouldn't be here." The crowd cheered. "We're gonna do somethin' we've never done before. A week or so ago, we had a new addition to the family." She saw the shocked expressions and laughed. "I really should have phrased that better. We had a friend arrive from England."

Talia's heart dropped into her stomach. "Oh no." She said, softly. She suddenly figured out why the girls, on a whim, had her play her violin with them during the sound check.

"She's a bit shy, but we want you all to meet her. Are you all cool with that?" The crowd clapped and whistled. "Her name's Talia. She's brought a bit of culture to our hardcore playground." She turned to Talia and motioned her to come out. "Don't be shy. Come say hi to the people."

The Watcher realized she'd been had, big time. "Oh, I'm going to kill her for this." She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the stage amid the applause and cat calls. She waved at the crowd as she walked over to Neo. The potential draped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm going to get you for this." She said, quietly.

"I'm sure you will." Neo said, kissing her on the cheek. "But not tonight."

"She's a hell of violist. What do you say?" Neo said. "You wanna hear her jam with us?" The result was an overwhelming yes. She turned to Talia. "What do you say? A little _Devil Went Down to Georgia_ dear Talia?"

"I like that song." Talia responded. She moved over and pulled out her violin and moved closer to the microphone. "But the name…" She lifted the violin up to her chin. "Is Johnny."

Cerri pounded out the beginning as Talia opened up with her violin without missing a beat.

Neo smiled as the rest of the girls went for broke. "The Devil went down to Georgia. She was lookin' for a soul to steal. She was in a bind 'cause she was way behind. She was willing to make a deal. When she came across this young girl sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot. And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said "Girl, let me tell you what." The crowd cheered at the prospect of a female devil. As far as Neo was concerned, it was apt. She turned to Talia and began walking silkily around her, strutting as she did so. "I guess you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player, too. And if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you. Now you play a pretty good fiddle, girl but give the Devil her due. I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul, 'cause I think I'm better than you."

Talia snatched the microphone from Neo's hand and began strutting around her. "The girl said, 'My name's Johnny, and it might be a sin, But I'll take your bet; and you're gonna regret because I'm the best there's ever been." She then tossed the mic back to the girl with a smirk. Neo was proud as hell. Talia was reveling in her part. She put the microphone back on the stand.

The rest of the girls sang the chorus as the pair stared each other down. Neo backed away and pulled a guitar out of the case sitting to the side. "Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard. 'Cause Hell's broke loose in Georgia and the Devil deals at cards. And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold. But if you lose the devil gets your soul."

Neo strapped on the white flying V guitar. "The Devil opened up her case and she said, 'I'll start this show.' And fire flew from her fingertips as she rosined up her bow. And she pulled the bow across the strings and it made an evil hiss." She dragged the pick across the strings of the guitar, letting out a brutal screech. "And a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this." Quan thumped out the bassline as Sadiira snapped the short chords.

Neo stared at Talia with a grin before she began grinding out the lilting somewhat dirty solo that brought to mind images of the darkness and everything that lived there.

Talia stepped up to the mic, chuckling. "When the Devil finished, Johnny said, 'Well, you're pretty good ol' mum. But sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it's done'."

The girls piped in with the second chorus. "Fire on the mountain, run boys run. Devil's in the house of the rising sun. Chicken in the bread pan, pickin' out dough. Granny does you're dog bite, no child, no."

Talia, for her part, worked her violin like a master. For her entire life, she'd played the instrument. She'd even given up the idea of joining the London Philharmonic Orchestra to continue her Watcher training. Now, on stage she was demonstrating why she was courted by them in the first place.

When she finished her part, Neo again moved up to the microphone, pulling her guitar off. "The Devil bowed her head because she knew that she'd been beat. And she laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet." Neo moved away, looking crestfallen.

Talia took up the stand, grinning. "Johnny said, 'Devil, just come on back if you ever want to try again, I've told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been." She struck up the solo again, dancing about the stage, enjoying the hell out of herself. The girls finished the song as she played it out.

The crowd was nearly deafening. Talia waved as she left the stage. Neo put her guitar back into the case and set it aside. "Talia Turner, ladies and gentlemen."

It was nearly midnight when the girls finally called it quits. They hit the stage at eight sharp. They were exhausted, but were fueled with adrenaline. They even sat on the edge of the stage and signed autographs to any who wanted them.

It was after two when they got home and collapsed in their beds. Neo had thought she would be angry and wired after the show. But as she lay with Talia in her arms, she was content. "You did good tonight." She said to the woman.

"It was fun. But I couldn't do it all the time. I don't know how you girls do it." Talia offered.

"Devotion to the fans, I guess." Neo said. "Let's just hope a good concert performance isn't all that's waiting for us in the next town."

Talia lifted her head and stared at Neo. "What a shame that would be." Her hands began moving over the muscular frame of the potential.

"Yeah. What a shame." Neo returned.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Neo sat behind the wheel of the Chevy and rumbled along behind the blue Ford, heading south along Highway 101. Talia sat beside her in the passenger seat, enjoying the scenic view. "It is quite breathtaking." The woman said.

Neo cast a quick glance and shrugged. "It's alright."

"How can you see that and not feel something?" Talia asked her.

Neo raised an eyebrow. "You live your life staring at that view, it ceases to be awesome. You forget, I've driven this road hundreds of times. It was pretty the first two, three dozen times you see it. After that, it's just 'hey look. Ocean. Cool'."

Talia had to concede that. Downtown London was a rather spectacular mixture of old and new architecture, but to her it was just a city. Sights seem less magnificent the more you see them. "Well, I still think it's beautiful."

"Not arguing that. It's fuckin' gorgeous. But it isn't the thrill it used to be." Neo said. She looked at her gauges. Her stomach growled. "Fuck, I'm hungry."

Talia looked at her. "How far until our next town?"

"I don't know. 'Bout thirty miles or so." Neo said. She reached over and tapped the hands free.

"What's up, Neo?" Cerri asked.

"We're stopping for food." The potential said, matter of fact. "I'm about to start gnawing on my Watcher here in a minute." Talia sighed and shook her head.

"You didn't get enough of that last night?" The younger girl returned with a chuckle.

"Funny fucker, aren't you?" Neo shot back. "Find us a place for something to eat. And not a goddamn AMPM."

"We could go for some grub." Quan said. "We'll find a place."

A few minutes later, the group was driving through the small town of Nehalem, OR. It was typical as far as quaint little coastal towns went. Kitschy shops lined the streets side by side with small boutique eateries. Neo looked side to side and saw a place that looked like her cup of tea. "There we are." She said, nodding. She tapped the hands free again. "Bayway Eatery to the left."

"Looks good." Quan said. "Looks like a spot to park the trailer beside it, too."

Neo pulled up and cranked the wheel to the left, pulling the massive fifth wheel into the lot beside the restaurant, doing her best to leave room for people to park, should they need to. "That should be good." She said, shutting the truck down and climbing out. "God, I'm hungry."

Quan parked the Raptor across the street and piled out with the other three girls. She made sure to lock the rig up. They entered the restaurant as a group. "Smells good in here." Quan offered. To the right of the front door was a lounge of some sort. Being just after twelve on a Saturday afternoon, it wasn't exactly filled to capacity. They did however, see a few folks with a beer in front of them watching the television. "God. How people can booze up this early is beyond me."

Neo cast a sideways glance and turned to the left, toward the restaurant. "People who drink this early in the day are basically saying 'fuck my liver'." They stepped in and waited to be seated. The room looked nearly full of guys ranging from early twenties to their fifties. Nearly every one of them was wearing a baseball cap with diesel manufacturers, heavy equipment manufacturers, or tractor manufacturers on them. The entire room turned to them as they stood waiting. "Christ." Neo said. "Now all we need is fuckin' dueling banjos."

"Jesus Christ, Neo." Quan hissed at her. "You wanna start a fight or something and I should really fuckin' think about who I'm talkin' to."

The potential just chuckled. A pretty blonde waitress in her mid twenties named Rachel stepped over with a handful of menus. "If you wanna follow me, I'll get you seated."

Neo watched the girl's ass as she walked. "Nice." She said, nodding.

"Quite." Talia said in agreement.

"Would you like a table or a booth?" Rachel asked.

"You mind if we push a couple tables together?" Quan asked her.

"Not at all." The woman said, smiling. Neo and Quan quickly stepped to the side, scooting two of the tables snugly together. They then took their seats and started looking over the menu. "Start you all off with something to drink?" She asked, pulling her order pad out.

Neo ordered a coke, Quan and Cerri both settled on Sprite. Talia asked for iced tea while Sadiira ordered Dr. Pepper for both her hand her sister.

"I'll go ahead and get your drinks and give you a minute to look everything over." She said, moving off.

Neo already knew what she wanted and set her menu down. She looked around the room, taking in the establishment. For some reason, it reminded her of the kind of place you always saw in the movies. It was somewhat dark and had a kind of speak-easy feel to it. She cast quick glances at the patrons and stopped when she saw a group of men that looked like they were straight out of a Burt Reynolds movie. She made eye contact and raised an eyebrow. She knew what they were looking at. Given that she was wearing a thin black tank top with a sports bra and a pair of cargo pants that rode low on her hips, it wasn't really that much of a surprise. Quan was dressed pretty much the same with the exception that her tank was army green and her pants were jeans that molested her ass. The twins were wearing t-shirts and black cargos and Talia was clad in a pair of jeans much like Quan's and her shirt was an understated navy blue blouse that showed a nice amount of cleavage. The only one of them dressed conservatively was Cerri. The girl wore a simple pleated skirt with bike shorts underneath and a sleeveless t-shirt with Sailor moon on the front.

The four of them continued to stare. Neo finally tired of it. "You keep undressing us with your eyes, boys I'm gonna start charging you money." She snapped. "Turn the fuck around."

The men glared at her, then slowly turned around, shaking their heads.

"That was rather crass, wasn't it?" Talia asked her, quietly.

"I don't give a fuck. It ain't like the motherfuckers never seen a fuckin' girl before. They wanna check us out, that's fine, but don't stare like creepy fuckin' rapists and shit." Neo said. She made no attempt to hide her disdain. People staring at her was one of her biggest pet peeves.

Rachel could feel the tension at the table and did her best to ignore it. "You all decided what you wanted?" She asked, forcing a smile.

Neo chose a double bacon cheeseburger with seasoned steak fries. Talia asked for a chef salad with blue cheese dressing. Quan and Cerri both went with the club sandwich, also with fries. The twins both asked for turkey melts with side salads. She quickly gathered the menus and was off, leaving the girls to chat amongst themselves.

Talia reached over and took Neo's hand. "Are you alright?"

Neo looked surprised by the question. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seemed so…_angry_." The Watcher said, concern in her voice. "I'm just wondering if there was something that frustrated you."

"No, that's just Neo." Quan said, fiddling with the table setting. Cerri rose and moved over to the Jukebox against the back wall. Quan watched and chuckled.

Neo saw it and sighed. "God, please don't let her play anything from Aqua."

"That ain't all she listens to, you ass." Quan said, watching her girl. Currently, the music maker was pumping out a forgettable country and western tune. Cerri pulled a couple of quarters out of her pocket and slid them in, tapping her selection. Suddenly _Burn It to The Ground_ by Nickelback began pumping from the box.

Cerri nodded and began dancing her way back to the table. Quan laughed and turned to Neo. "How's that?"

The potential nodded. "I can get behind this." She bobbed in her seat to the music. Rachel returned with their meals and the girls ate as they listened to the music and made pleasant small talk.

"So where is our next show again?" Neo asked Cerri.

"Tillamook High School Auditorium. A smaller venue than last time, but it should still be a good turnout." The teen said, looking at her cell phone. Cerri chuckled as she nodded toward the four men at the table. "Your admirers are staring again."

Neo turned around and looked at them. "You fuckers got a problem?" She asked, sharply. The men continued to stare. It was obvious they weren't happy about being spoken to in such a manner. Neo, for her part, couldn't bring herself to give a shit what they thought. "I better not get to three."

Talia leaned over to the girl, resting a hand on her arm. "Just ignore them." The Watcher said.

"Oh, shit." Quan said, sighing. A heartbeat later, a shadow loomed over the table.

They'd all decided that staring from afar wasn't cutting it. "You know…" One of them said. Neo turned to regard him. He was wearing a green John Deere hat and a blue and red flannel shirt. He looked like the quintessential redneck, complete with beard and mustache. "Why I come from, girls like you know to keep their mouths shut." His partner, a beefy looking man in a black Harley Davidson t-shirt with an 'Intimidator #3' baseball cap nodded.

"Boys, do yourselves a favor and just go back to your table." Quan said. "You really don't wanna piss her off." She looked at Neo and saw the girl slowly starting to grin. "Oh, fuck me."

"How about you mind your own business?" Number 3 said, snarkily.

"Don't talk to her like that." Cerri snapped.

The big man looked at her. "What are you gonna do about it, bitch?"

Cerri moved to get up, but was stayed by Quan's big right hand. "Get the stun gun." The larger girl said, quietly.

"I left it in the truck." The teen said, sheepishly.

"What do you mean, you left it in the truck?" Quan whispered harshly. "You never leave it in the truck." She motioned to the group. "What's to stop her from killing these guys?"

"Fear of prison time." Sadiira said, still eating. Nadiira was ignoring the whole event.

Quan nodded. "Eh, fair point."

Talia looked at the girls and back to the four men. She could tell the men were slightly inebriated. She reached over to her potential. She could see that Neo was itching, _begging _for this fight. "Neo, it isn't worth it." She desperately did not want the girl getting in trouble.

Neo turned to regard her. "Yeah. It is." She said, rising to her feet. "This is the only warning you ass-hats get. Go back to your table, sit the fuck down and stop staring. I get to three, shit gets wrecked." She stared at them, flexing her wrists. "One."

"Two." John Deere said, getting in her face. Intimidator stepped up beside him.

"Three." Neo said. "But not in here. I'm not getting blood all over these nice people's restaurant." She cocked her head. "You three chicken shit motherfuckers got the balls to take this shit outside?"

John looked her up and down. "You got brass girl. You wanna try us on, let's do this."

"Rachel. Bring us some to go boxes." Neo said. "Let's go, tough guy." She looked at them with a smirk. "You and your girlfriends. I ain't brought a good ass-whoopin' in days and I want my money's worth."

The four of them exited the restaurant with her right behind. Quan sighed and began loading her sandwich in the to go box. Rachel stood staring after the five of them. "Does she really intend to fight with all four of them?"

"Yes, she does." Sadiira said, likewise putting her food away. "Don't call the police. They'll just end up getting hurt. Or they'll end up having to shoot our friend."

"Can't they just taze her?" The waitress asked.

"Been tried." Cerri said, putting her sandwich in the box. "She doesn't go down when they do that. It just makes her mad. No, best let her get it out of her system. She won't kill them. She'll just smack 'em around a bit. They'll be fine."

Talia scooped her salad into the Styrofoam container and rose from the table. "Thank you for the meal. Sorry about all of this." She pulled four twenties out of her pocket and handed them to the woman. "That should cover everything and give you a healthy tip. Have a nice day."

The girls all left and moved around to the parking lot beside the restaurant. Neo stood grinning from ear to ear. Her body was relaxed and ready. She was rolling her wrists around. She'd obviously gotten into the cab of the Chevy and pulled her fighting gloves out and slid them on.

"This is gonna be fun." She said, happily. "Alright boys. Say when."

"Shouldn't we help her?" Talia asked.

"No need." Quan said. "There's only four of them and they're normal human types. She leaned against the wall. "This won't take long."

The first of the group, the man with the tractor hat came at her. She exploded into motion. She buried her fist into John Deere's gut, doubling him over. She then turned and slammed a reverse spin kick into his ass, sending him flying into the side of building.

Number 3 rushed at her. She quickly backhanded him in the side of his face, spinning him to the ground. His two buddies charged at her, angered that their friends had just been dropped by a girl. She took two steps and lifted her arms, clotheslining the both of them harshly. None of the men were prepared for how utterly strong she was. The pair of assailants were tossed to the ground, hard. They fought to catch their breath.

Nascar rose from the dirt, shaking his head. Neo stood, staring him down. "This just keeps getting better." She said, smiling widely. She strode forward, looking to have some fun.

He'd managed to find an empty bottle from somewhere. He was looking to bash her over the head with it. He ran at her and swung the bottle at her. She backhanded the glass, shattering the bottle into a million fragments. The man stepped back, shocked. She loosed a sharp jab that staggered him back. She then shot her foot out, catching him in the gut, pushing him back to tumble over a garbage can. From nowhere, one of the men she'd clotheslined rose and caught her with a hard right cross that blasted her face to the side. She quickly turned back around to stare at him with a sinister grin. "Not bad. I almost felt that." She kicked him in the crotch, doubling him over. She stepped in and grabbed him by the hair and the back of the pants and spun, throwing him into the side of the lifted Chevy she drove. His head collided with the metal, producing a minor dent. He landed in a heap, not moving.

Nascar and the remaining redneck, both enraged, came at her hard. She easily smacked their strikes away, laughing. "Come on, boys. You _gotta_ be able to do better than this." As one of them tried a front kick, she dropped to a knee, caught his leg at the ankle and drilled him in the balls. He let out a strangled squeal and gripped his broken genitals. She stood and pushed his leg into this companion's path. She let out with a high side kick to the second man's face, forcing him back. She then punched the man with the bruised crotch in the jaw, spinning him to the dirt.

That left her to square off with the final redneck. He growled and rushed at her, looking to bear her down. Neo was more than ready for him. She stepped into his charge, grabbing his shirt just below his throat and his belt buckle. She used his momentum and lifted him from the gravel, hurling him bodily into the wall. The brick flowered under his weight. He fell to the ground in a busted mass.

She stood, looking around the lot. All four men lay about, moaning and clutching various parts of their anatomy. "That's it?" She asked, sharply. "Fuckin' pussies." She looked at her companions. They all stood watching her. "These bastards were sorry."

"Feel better?" Quan asked her.

"Yeah. A little." Neo said. "Let's motor. You guys grab my burger?"

Talia held the pair of cartons up. "I've got it." They climbed in to the truck and pulled away from the restaurant, making sure to avoid the men still laying about the car park.

Soon they were rolling out of town, again heading south on Highway 101. Neo was whistling as she drove. Talia just looked at her for while. "What?" Neo asked. She looked down. "I got something on my shirt?"

"You could have seriously hurt those men, Alice." Talia said, matter of fact.

"Fuck that, I coulda killed those motherfuckers. A few well placed shots to the neck or chests and it'd be game over. And yeah, I also could have whooped 'em up so bad they'd have to spend the rest of their lives in wheelchairs." She then shook her head. "But I was out to have a little fun and prove a point, not commit manslaughter or attempted murder."

"Why didn't you just let it go? Why not simply ignore them?" Talia asked.

"Didn't wanna." Neo said. "I was hoping for some action and those hillbillies gave it to me. What fun would ignoring them have been?"

"What if you'd have gotten arrested?"

Neo shrugged. "There ain't a fuckin' judge in the country that would have convicted me. Those guys say that I beat the shit out of them all, it would have gotten laughed out of court. That and with my psych profile?" She shook her head. "I could have killed 'em and walked away from it, truth be told. According to the state, I'm crazier than a sack full of bobcats."

"Trust me, I've read your psychological profile." Talia confirmed. "In all honesty, a good psychiatrist with you for a patient, could have a very lucrative career with little else."

Neo nodded. "I'm a fucked up individual."

"Why the constant need for a fight?" Talia asked. "I'm not trying to analyze you, I'm not judging. I'm simply curious."

Neo was quiet for a time. She thought about it long and hard, wanting to give the woman a true answer. "I think…" She paused a moment. "I think it's because there are really only three times when I'm truly, _truly_ happy. When I'm really at peace. That's when I'm on stage, putting it all out there for our fans. I love the feeling. I like them watching me, seeing that I care, that I give a shit what they want, what they came to see, you know?" She smiled. "Just seeing the looks on their faces when we bust out their favorite song. Nothin' like it."

"That's one." Talia said.

"Second would have to be in bed. I like sex. It's not…it's not just having it and getting off, that isn't what it's about for me. I genuinely have to have something between me and who I bring to my bed. It can be anything, but there just has to be…_something_ there. I don't know if that makes sense or not."

"It isn't just about looks?" Talia asked her.

"No, it's not. That's a big part of it, don't get me wrong, but I have to have a reason to want to be around someone, even for a night. I always strike up conversations first. I'm forward as shit and won't even consider being with someone that can't handle that. I hate bitches that play fuckin' mind games. Pisses me off."

"So…" Talia tried to see if she understood. "Any girl you're with has to be somewhat intelligent and have a genuine personality?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I've made a few exceptions here and there, but that's largely what I look for."

"And finally?"

"You just saw it. When I'm fighting it's just, it's my happy place. Win, lose or draw. I enjoying fighting."

"Yes, but do you know _why_ you enjoy it?" Talia asked.

"I think so." Neo said. "At the very least, I have my own theory on it and it explains things to a point."

"What's your theory?"

"You ever seen the movie The Fast and the Furious?" Neo asked. "The first of the franchise?"

"Yes. I'm a closet fan, actually."

"Well, there's a line that Vin Diesel uses in that movie. It's about racing, but I've kind of found that it applies to me, in a way. I'm paraphrasing, but he said that when he's racing, for the ten seconds it takes to get down the stretch, he's free. Nothing matters but him and the car. When I'm fighting, it's the same. When I'm in the clutch, staring down my opponents, there's nothing but them and me. Nothing in the world matters for those few minutes. It's the only time in my life where everything comes into focus, you know. It's the only time that it all, the world, the universe makes sense. It isn't chaotic, it isn't orderly, it just _is_. And that's why I love it. I'm in complete control and know exactly what I have to do. That's a feeling that I never get tired of."

"Sounds to me like you fight because you think that's all you're good for."

Neo looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Um…what the hell else _am_ I good for?"

"You're a big sister to Cerri. She loves you to death. You're also a younger sister to Quan, not to mention being one of the only few people on the planet that the twins respect." She looked down, sadly. "And I have come to care a great deal for you."

Neo heard the woman's words and sighed. "You falling in love with me, British?"

"I suppose I am at that." Talia said.

"Huh." Neo said, noncommittal.

Talia looked at her. "Seriously? I pour my heart out to you and all you can say is 'huh'?"

"What would you rather I say?" Neo asked. "I could feed you bullshit if it would make you feel more comfortable."

"I don't know, Alice. But I expected…_something_."

Neo sighed. "Then go back to fucking England." She turned to look at the woman. "Tillamook has an airport."

Talia was dumbfounded. "Just like that?"

"What do you fuckin' want me to say, Talia?" Neo snapped. "You've known me for what? Three weeks at best? Well, I'm sorry for not falling head over _fucking_ heels for you. Yeah, you're easy on the eyes, one hell of a lover, but that doesn't equate to love, sweetheart. Never has. In fact, you wanna get right down to it, there's a fuck ton about you that I find irritating as hell."

"Oh, that's rich." Talia growled. "The foul-mouthed fight monger has a problem with _my_ personality."

"Damn right I do." Neo snapped. "The first of which is this constant fucking need to understand every damn decision I make. I can't be pissed off around you with you trying to fucking psychoanalyze every god damn thing I do. Ever occur to you that sometimes I just wanna be mad for a while?"

"Well pardon the bloody hell out of me for not liking to see you angry." Talia shot back. "Maybe I should just shut my mouth and let you do whatever the hell you'd like. I'm trying to help you, you addle-minded twat."

"Did I ever fucking ask you for help?" Neo asked. "Cause, in case you ain't up on current events, you came to _us_. We never asked for a babysitter from the Watcher's council. We were doing fine before we ever got you and if you were to take a fuckin' walk right now, we'd still be doing just fine. Only difference is we wouldn't have some British smart ass constantly telling us where the bear shit in the fucking buckwheat."

Talia could feel anger boiling in her. She genuinely believed that Neo gave a damn about her. She didn't expect confessions of true love or anything so heartfelt as that, but she expected to at least have the girl care. Hearing her words and the cold, heartless tone with which she delivered them…she felt hurt, crushed even. "Do you really wish me to go back to England?"

"I ain't fuckin' stoppin' you." Neo said, coldly. "Your call, not mine."

"No, Alice." Talia said, shaking her head. "I'm not letting you off that easy. You have to tell me to go. You have to look me in the _fucking _eyes and tell me to leave."

Neo pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. The Raptor slid to a stop a few feet ahead. She slowly turned her eyes to Talia. "I'm going to make this as clear as I possibly can, so pay attention. I…don't…care. Stay, go. I don't really give a shit one way or another. We've been a band a long time and losing you, or keeping you, isn't really gonna matter to me."

"I want an answer, Alice. I want a decision from you. You tell me to go, I'll step out of this truck and you'll never see me again. But you have to say it. You have to tell me to go."

"Then get the fuck out." Neo said, anger in her voice. "That plain enough for you? Get your British ass out of my fuckin' truck." She paused a moment as Talia stared at her in shock. "Not seein'a whole lotta goin'."

Talia felt the tears begin to fall from her eyes. She turned and slowly stepped out of the truck, shutting the door. She stepped away from the rig, watching as Neo shifted gears and pulled away, leaving her sitting on the side of the road.

"What the fuck?" Quan said, watching the lifted Chevy take off south. She looked in the rearview and saw Talia bury her face in her hands and weep. "I'll be right back." She said. "Cerri, call Neo and tell her to stop." She climbed out of the truck and turned, trotting toward the saddened Watcher. She drew closer and could hear the woman crying. "What the hell happened?"

"I'm going home." Talia said, between sobs. "I'm going back to England."

"What?!" Quan was shocked beyond words. "What the fuck is this all about?"

Talia sniffed past the tears. "Alice has made it plain that I'm no longer welcome in Portland or with you girls."

"How did this start?" Quan asked. "Everything seemed fine in the restaurant."

"I…I was stupid." Talia said.

"Okay, Talia. You can be considered a lot of things, I'm sure, but you are most definitely _not_ stupid."

"I made the mistake of telling Alice that I was developing feelings for her."

Quan's jaw dropped. "Oh, Christ. Yeah, that was dumb."

"I know. She doesn't care about me at all." Talia returned.

"No, she does. I can guarantee you that. You just touched on the one thing that scares Neo. She's scared of getting close."

"She seems to be rather close with the lot of you." Talia said.

"Yeah, but it's been hard earned. She lost her mom when she was young, then she lost her father, then Reggie. She's had a track record for losing people that get close to her. We're her friends, bandmates and sisters in arms. It's a different dynamic." Quan motioned her to follow. "She's terrified of losing someone she genuinely loves. The feelings are there, T. I can see it in how she is around you. But she's scared shitless of falling in love with someone. She sees everyone she gets close to as a ticking clock. Just counting down to the time you're taken away from her. She's afraid of that pain. I can't really blame her. Up until now, she's been just kinda playin' the field, living her life, her way. No you're here and you just hand her your heart, sight unseen. That's got her spooked."

"I think maybe going back to England is the best thing for all concerned…"

Quan interrupted her. "Nope. Not lettin' you do that." She approached the truck and pulled open the passenger seat. "You get ahold of Neo?"

"She said she'll meet us at the next rest stop." Cerri said. She immediately climbed into the back. "She sounded like she was really mad. Or really sad. I couldn't tell."

"Probably angry. If she sees you picked me up, she's going to be cross." Talia said.

"No. Cross is for British people. She's gonna be fucking enraged." Quan said. "But she needs to calm her shit. And it's gonna fuckin' hurt." She climbed into the rig and headed off toward the rest stop.

"Why is it going to hurt?" Talia said.

"Oh, they do this on occasion." Cerri said. "Neo's extremely pissed off right now. The only way she can calm down when she's this mad is by beating the hell out of something. She doesn't get this mad often, but when she does – and there's no supernatural beasties to thrash – she and Quan go at it. It's brutal and it's nasty, but it's what we have to do to keep Neo from killing people."

"Neo's anger isn't just a petulant little girl with daddy issues. She's clinically diagnosed." Sadiira said. "To alleviate her rage, she has to physically assault something or it'll compound."

"Has anyone ever let it go on unchecked?" Talia asked.

"Once." Cerri said, her voice was filled with fear. "She has a transcript that Reggie gave her. It was typed up during a session she had with a psychologist at Cedar Hills in Portland. She was arrested once just before Quan met her. She was checked into their hospital for an evaluation. It took fourteen people to wrestle her down and pumped enough Diazepam in her to stagger a bull elephant. Even then, she kept resisting for another ten minutes before she finally calmed down. It wasn't pretty."

"It happened again and the pair of us went at it for almost a half hour." Quan said. "She'd broken six ribs, fractured my collar bone and gave me severe concussion."

"Dear god." Talia said. "What did you do to her?"

"Just kept her from beating me worse." Quan said. "I didn't really hit her, I just let her wail on me."

"I'm not letting you do that for me." Talia said as they pulled into the rest stop. "If she feels the need to beat the snot out of someone, it's going to be me."

"You don't understand, Talia. She'll kill you." Quan said. "I ain't gonna let that sit on my conscience."

"Not your choice. This is my mess, I'll clean it up." She looked at Quan. "I've made my choice."

"What part of she'll kill you, do you not fucking understand? I'm not being facetious, here. This isn't a joke or a game. She will genuinely beat you to death."

"If that's how it has to be." Talia said, stepping out of the truck.

Quan took the stun gun out of the console and tested it. "I'm gonna go make sure this doesn't get out of hand."

"Good luck." Nadiira said, softly.

Talia strode up to the truck and around to the driver's side. Neo sat with her arms crossed, staring straight ahead. The Watcher pulled the door open. "Get out of the truck, please."

Neo turned and looked at her. "I thought you said I told you to get out of the truck, I'd never see you again."

"Fate deemed it otherwise. Get out of the truck, please."

"So you lied?" Neo asked. "Shouldn't be surprised. Being full of shit is all the Watcher's Council's good for, isn't it?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." Talia said.

Neo heard the hint of challenge and did as the woman requested. "Now what?"

"Hit me." Talia said, simply. "Yes, you heard me right. Hit me. Anywhere you like. I won't fight back, I won't defend myself. Anyplace on my body you feel like, strike me. It can even be a killing blow. I know you're capable of it. I won't file charges, I won't rat you out." She stared at Neo. "Here, let me make it easy for you." In a flash, her fist arced in, taking the teen across the jaw. Blood began to drip from Neo's lip. "There. I struck you first. Now you can hit me with a clear conscience."

Neo spat the gobbet of blood out and stared at Talia. "You want me to hit you." The potential said. "Why?" If she felt anything from the rather vicious blow Talia had landed, she showed no sign of it.

"Because, from what your bandmates have said, being ridiculously violent is the only way to get you thinking clearly again." Talia stepped forward. "I'll not let you beat upon one of your best friends because I was stupid enough to believe you actually gave a shit about anyone but yourself."

"It wasn't stupid." Neo said, her voice soft.

"Yes, I know you don't give a damn, I…" Talia paused as the words Neo had said finally caught up with her. "What did you say?"

"Christ, she's gonna make me repeat it." Neo said. "You weren't being stupid." She began pacing. "You don't understand what being in love is like to someone like me."

"You're afraid of losing anyone that comes close." Talia said. "Quan laid it all out for me."

"Quan needs to quit thinking she knows everything. It isn't about losing anyone. I mean, don't get me wrong, that's important, but that isn't what it…what _we're_ about." She motioned between the pair of them. "You love me. After only something like two weeks, you're in love with me. Or starting to be or some shit. I'm not gonna lie to you, Talia. There is a large part of me that wants you to get the fuck away from me. That's the part that wouldn't shut it's fuckin' mouth in the truck. But there's another side, a small part that…god fucking dammit." She said, clenching her fists. "I like who I am."

"What?" Talia asked, not really understand where the girl was going with this. "I don't get it."

"I like who I am." Neo said again. "I like being me. I like being the dirty sex having, rock and roll singing, hard fighting badass. Beating the fuck outta shit, then grabbing a steak and taking someone home to fuck. I like that life. I like how I feel when I do it." She stared at the woman. "I fall in love with you, all of that changes."

"I don't want to change…"

"It won't be you, god dammit!" Neo said, her voice cracking. "It won't have anything to do with what you say or do. It's gonna be me. I know it. I can feel it. It's already starting."

Talia listened intently to the words coming out of Neo's mouth. _"I fall in love with you, all of that changes…It's already starting." _"Are you saying…"

"I'm saying that for you, I'd wanna be a better person. Good people don't live like I do. They don't do the shit I do." Neo was sobbing now. "And now because of you, I'm fuckin' cryin'." She glared at the woman. "Is that what you wanted? Huh? To see me fuckin' cry? Good fucking job, Talia. You got what you wanted." Neo turned away from her wiping her eyes. "Can't fuckin' believe this shit." She snarled to herself.

"Alice, look at me." Talia said, stepping forward. "Please turn and look at me."

Against her better judgment, Neo did just that. "I don't wanna love you, Talia. I want to be who I am."

"That's what I want as well. I don't care that you are always angry. Yes, I'm trying to help you, but I'm not trying to change you. I don't want you to change. The so-called dirty sex having, rock and roll singing, hard fighting badass is who I'm falling in love with. I don't want you tamed. I don't want you to lose the edge that all of the supernatural world fears." She dared to reach out and touch Neo's hips with her hands. A gentle caress of support. "Please don't cast me aside, Alice. I want to be a part of your life. However hard, rough and sexually charged it might be."

"It won't matter what you want, Talia. Things will change about me. I already don't care about…" She sighed, staring into her Watcher's eyes. "I don't care about being alone in the dark with anyone but you." She shook her head. "And that isn't who I am…who I was."

"If you truly wish to bed others, I won't stop you." Talia said. "I know you are young yet and that…"

"For fuck's sake, stop it." Neo said. "Get this through your thick head." She gripped the sides of Talia's face. "Making you cry and get out of the truck was the hardest fucking thing I'd ever had to do. I couldn't stand the thought of you hurting, but at the same time, I didn't want it to go too far. I wanted it over before I loved you too much to send you away." She shook her head. "But it's already too late. I realize that now. It's not that I can't drag other bitches to bed, it's that I _won't_. Because it would hurt you. You'd play like it doesn't but here…" Neo tapped Talia's chest. "You would still care. And it would tear you apart piece by piece. I won't do that to you."

"You…" Talia swallowed. "You love me?"

"No." Neo said. "But I can see, I can _feel_ it happening. And I already wanna be a better woman for you because of it. And _that_ is what I'm afraid of."

"Well…" Talia was confused now. "What do we do about it?"

"What the fuck do you think we do about it? Play fuckin' hopscotch? We fall in love, hope for some semblance of happily ever after and hope we don't get killed or eaten by something. We fuck, I cuss, get into fights and you work with the rest of the girls to bail me out." Neo shook her head. "Jesus. And I thought I was dumb." She said, walking back to the truck.

Talia stood, a smile working across her lips.

"You getting in or not?" Neo snapped.

"Do you want me in the truck with you?" Talia asked. She'd just been dragged through the emotional wringer. She was going to get a little revenge. "I don't want to tread where I'm not welcome. You seemed pretty certain last time we spoke."

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Neo walked around and opened the passenger door of the truck. She then stalked over to Talia and, in one swift motion, lifted her from the ground in a fireman's carry. "Ain't got fuckin' time for this shit." She carried the woman around and tossed her up into the seat. "Buckle up. I don't wanna fuckin' ticket." She slammed the door and moved around, climbing behind the wheel.

Quan nodded as the pair returned to the truck. She retook her position. "That went better than expected."

The potential turned and looked at Talia. "I'm not romantic. At all. The closest you'll get from me is making sure you get off during sex. You got these fine British sensibilities and shit. I…I'm not even a hundred percent sure what sensibilities even means. Morals and shit, I think. Could be wrong. I guess my point is I say the wrong shit, I do the wrong shit. Pretty much all the time. The only promises I can make is that I won't deliberately hurt you and I'll go to my grave protecting you. As for morals, well…my moral compass only points to the direction of 'fuck you'."

"What are you trying to say?"

Neo stared at her. "I want you to stay with us…with _me_. I need you, Talia. I can feel…I can feel shit with you that I've never felt with anyone. I know, that sounds like some serious City of Angels Nick Cage and Meg Ryan bullshit, but it's true. God that movie fucking sucked." Neo shook her head. "I don't know if what I feel is a good thing or not or where it might lead, but …I want you here. You're good for me. I know I'm not good for you. I'm not good for anyone, but…"

"I don't want you saying that anymore." Talia said, seriously. "I'll not permit you to get down on yourself."

"Christ, you are a pain in my ass." Neo said, shaking her head. "Why am I falling for you again?"

"My tongue, my tits and my ass." Talia said, smiling.

"That ain't all of it." Neo said, seriously. "It's because you didn't give up."

"No, I did." Talia said, ashamed. "Quan was the one that talked me out hitchhiking back to the nearest town."

"Fuck." Neo said, angrily. "Now I gotta actually thank her. Christ."

"Oh, how terrible." Talia said, chuckling.

"I can still change my mind you know." Neo said.

"No you can't."

Neo decided to shut up. Being the more…_butch_ partner in the relationship, anything she said from this point on would just be wrong. "Being in love's a bitch." She did offer a few minutes later.

Talia nodded, but kept quiet.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Welcome to Cheeseville." Neo said as they rolled into the town of Tillamook. "Population, you'uns." She looked to Talia. "That's y'all plus three."

Talia shook her head. "You're horrible."

"Okay…" Neo asked, shifting in her seat. "Where the hell are we going?" She followed the blue pickup as they turned off the highway and onto State Route 131. "Oh, snap. They have a Safeway."

Talia lifted an eyebrow. "Why is that important?"

"Killer egg rolls." Neo offered. "This town ain't got no Chinese Food Buffet's. Safeway is the next best thing. One of the only grocery stores I know of that has Chinese food that doesn't taste like minced ass meat."

The Watcher chuckled. "Where do you get your phrasing?"

"Television and the internet." Neo said. It was just after two in the afternoon when they pulled off the road a couple miles outside of Tillamook and into the Netarts Way RV Park. "Wow. This place is small."

They rumbled to a stop and waited as Quan and Cerri climbed out of the Ford and trotted into the office.

Neo leaned forward and rested her arms on the steering wheel. "So look…" She began. "Christ I'm fucking bad at this." She said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, alright?" She looked at Talia. "I was a fucking cunt back there. I shoulda never said that shit to you. It was fucked and if you feel like smacking me or some shit, I'll understand."

Talia stared at her a moment. She was still a little emotionally shaken, but she wasn't really angry. She was, however stunned beyond belief that Neo would actually _apologize_ to her. She hadn't expected it at all. "Thank you." She said, offering a smile. "I know how hard that was for you to say."

"I don't like apologizing. But I'm willing to do it if I know I was wrong." Neo said, looking back forward. "I always knew I'd eventually have to grow out of being this way sooner or later." She regarded Talia again with a smile. Neo always had a beautiful smile. It made people around her aware of the fact that she was actually a very pretty young girl. When it wasn't filled with menace, or sarcasm, just plain out and out happiness, it let the world know that there was a very charming teenager beneath the veneer of hardcore. "I guess if I have to change, I can't think of anyone I'd rather do it for than you."

Talia could more than hear, she could _feel_ the emotion in Neo's words. "I just want you to know I don't want you to change."

Neo nodded and saw Quan and Cerri come out of the office and get back into the truck. "I know you don't." She put it into gear and pulled forward slowly. "But there are certain things I can curb. I can, I don't know, compliment you more, I guess." Talia couldn't help but laugh. "I'm trying to be all heartfelt here."

"I know, I'm sorry." Talia said, trying to keep her laughing under control.

"Fuck you." Neo said, shaking her head. She had to admit, Talia had one infectious laugh. She began chuckling. "Stop laughing, dammit."

The woman bit her lip, but kept snorting. Neo ignored her as she backed the trailer into the space. She and Quan went about getting the trailer hooked up and leveled for the time they were going to be in town. The girls then went inside and got down to business.

"So what's the situation here?" Neo asked.

"Nest." Cerri said. "Big one if the reports are anything to go by."

"Let's hope they aren't pussies and take off as soon as they find out we're in town." She looked at Quan. "I wanna do a patrol tonight. See what's going on and see if we can find anything out."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about anyone running." Cerri said. She set her laptop up to be seen on the TV. "Take a look at these newspaper clippings."

The girls gathered around and could already see a pattern. For over a hundred years, there'd been unexplained deaths in the town. Not enough to be alarming…at least until recently. "It looks like starting in the early two thousands, the death toll in this town has increased quite a bit." Talia said, reading. "Forty seven deaths in the past eighteen months."

"So what are we thinking?" Neo asked. "An old master or something?"

"Seems legit." Cerri said. "Gimme a second." She said, lifting her cellphone. She dialed a number and put it on speaker.

"Hey Cerri. What's up?" Max answered.

"I'm looking through the obituaries and police blotters in Tillamook for the past century. It looks like we might have a master in town. Have you heard anything about this area?"

Max leaned back in the chair in front of the girls' console. "Just rumors. Given that I've never been there, I wouldn't know for sure. It's just talk."

"What have you heard?"

"That the town's basically a free-for-all after dark. It's a blind spot. You guys don't travel that far south. Neither do we. It's a hole."

"Any news on the vamp running the show, or it is just random gangs?" Neo asked.

"I've heard there's some guy down there calling himself Părintele Noapte. Not really sure what his deal is. Of course, I got it from a vampire just before I ate his ass, so who knows if he was telling me the truth or not."

Talia frowned and moved to the large chest she had her books in.

Meanwhile, the girls were trying to figure out what the name meant. "Părintele Noapte. What fuckin' language is that?"

"Romanian." Talia said, from the back room. "Loosely translated it means Father Night." She sifted through her tomes. "I think I've seen that name before."

"But you have no idea what his power or skill set might be?" Sadiira asked.

"No, I couldn't tell ya. Never met him personally. Given that he's never really hit anyone's radar, he can't be all that badass." Max returned.

"Thanks, Max. How is everything going up there?" Cerri asked.

"Good. A couple of suck-heads passing through. A few college kids got together last night and summoned a demon in their dorm room at the college here, but nothing serious. Turns out it was just some weird horn demon. Steele and Shelby just beat the shit out of him and torched his ass."

"Glad to hear it." Neo said. "Stay frosty. You never know what'll try to make a play."

"Always. Have fun." Max said, before ending the call.

"Well that gives us something to go on." Neo said. She turned to see Talia walking out of the back of the trailer with a book in her hands. "What do you got?"

"Apparently, before he was Părintele Noapte, he was a Romanian Soldier named Grigore Anton. He was turned sometime around the late seventeen hundreds. He formed a small band of likeminded vampires and began rampaging about Europe. It says that he ran afoul…" She raised an eyebrow. "Well, this is interesting." She looked at Neo. "Does the name Angelus mean anything to you?"

Cerri immediately nodded. "That's Angel. He's with the crew in Los Angeles."

"You saying Angel knows this ass-hat?" Quan asked. "Give him a call. See if he can tell us anything about him."

The girl did as her girlfriend asked. "Angel Investigations, we help the helpless. How can we help you today?" A cheerful girl's voice answered.

"Um…is Angel there?" Cerri asked.

"May I ask who's calling?" The girl asked.

"My name's Cerridwen. I'm with Demon Queller out of Portland."

"Oh. I've heard of you. I worked with some of you in Point Defiance last year. I'm Cordelia."

"We need to talk to Angel. It's important." Neo said, trying to get back on topic.

"I remember you. You're the really pissed off potential. Neo Knight, isn't it? Where'd you get that nickname, anyway?"

"Dart board." Neo said. "Can we talk to Angel, please?"

"Jeez, pissy much?" Cordy said. "At least you said please." She put the phone on hold.

A moment later, the phone clicked. "This is Angel."

"Hey, Angel. It's Cerridwen. From Portland?"

"I know who you are. Cordy filled me in. What's the problem? My read in the landscape is demons and vampires are more terrified of you five than they are of me."

"What do you know about some shit stain named Părintele Noapte?" Neo asked. "He's Romanian."

"I met him about a hundred and twenty years ago. We were in Europe. In Prague. He came through and was causing a lot of problems. He's bloodthirsty. Or at least he was back then. Word has he might have calmed some. Why do you need to know?"

"Max thinks he's the master running the show in Tillamook." Talia said. "Talia Turner, by the way. I'm a Watcher."

"I thought the Watcher's Council turned their backs on Neo." Angel said.

"Things change, big guy." Neo offered. "You know that more than anyone."

He chuckled. "True. If you girls are going up against Părintele Noapte, you should be ready for anything. He's as twisted as it gets."

"Any fucked up powers or anything like that?" Neo asked.

"Not that I remember. If he did, he played them pretty close to the vest." Angel said. "At the end of the day, he was a vampire like any other. Shouldn't be a problem for girls of your reputation."

"Does it bother you that the underworld is afraid of us?" Neo asked him. She was curious what some of the other hunters thought about that.

"No. That just means you're doing something right." He paused a moment. "With that said, I am going to say this. I'm afraid for you, Neo."

"Why me?" She asked, surprised. She barely knew the man.

"Because a lot of things are afraid of you. I've heard some of the harder types come through LA talking about you. You like to dish it out hard and fast. You're all about sending messages." She nodded in agreement. "But that kind of reputation from someone that isn't a slayer, that's completely human, is eventually gone make you a target."

"That's what I'm counting on." Neo said. "It makes _me_ a target. Not the rest of the girls."

"But a lot of those types will go through them to get to you." Angel said, solemnly.

All four of the girls turned and looked at Cerri. "We know." Quan growled. "Cerri got the bad end of that situation."

"Just be careful if you go after him. He's a dangerous man."

"We'll watch our six." Neo said. "Thanks for giving us the skinny on this jack-wad."

"Good luck." He said, ending the call.

"Alright. We know what we're dealing with." Neo said. "Let's go grab some dinner. I'm fuckin' hungry." They all piled into the truck and headed back into town. It was just after four thirty when they entered to find a restaurant.

They all found it kind of strange that a majority of the businesses were starting to close their doors for the night. "Anyone else find this weird?" Quan asked from her place behind the wheel. Cerri sat between her and Neo in the front seat. Talia and the twins took up the back seats.

"Everything's either already closed or closing." Neo said, shaking her head. "I wonder why."

"Sounds like they know they have a vampire problem and are adjusting their schedules accordingly." Talia said.

"Pull in here." Neo said, motioning to a small boutique pizzeria called Fat Dog's. The staff looked to be cleaning up for the night. Quan pulled up to the parking lot.

The girls piled out and made their way inside. The man behind the counter watched them as they entered. "You'll have to order to go. We're shutting down the dining room." He said, somewhat nervously.

Neo nodded. "Give us two of your biggest Combos, a Canadian Bacon and Pineapple and…" She looked to Talia. "What kind do you like?"

"I'm not picky about pizza. It's all good to me." The woman said.

"Make that two Hawaiians and Two combos. As big as you can make 'em." Neo said. "And gimme six two liters."

He rang the order up and called it into the back to get made. "Your total is one-oh-one even."

Cerri pulled out the S3 dot com account card and ran it for the total. She jotted her name and signed for a twenty dollar tip.

"So, why does everything in this town close at five?" Neo asked. "Seems kinda early, don't it?"

"People don't wanna be out after dark in this town. If you girls were smart, you'd take this and hurry home." He said, sternly.

"What happens after dark?" Talia asked.

He turned pale as he looked at her. "That's when _they_ come out." He said. "They see you on the streets, it's game over."

"Who's _they_?" Neo asked.

"The vampires." He said, softly. "When the sun goes down, it's their time. They control the town between dusk and dawn. The only thing you can do is lock up your house and hope they don't take an interest in you."

Neo grinned and smacked the counter top. "Hot damn, I knew it." She said, happily. She turned to the girls. "This is gonna be so damn fun."

Talia nodded and looked to the man. "If one wanted to know where to find them, where would one look?"

"You're actually _looking_ for vampires?" He asked. "Are you insane?"

"Card carrying." Neo said. She leaned on the counter and stared at him flirtatiously. "So tell me, studly. Where could a girl like me find some vampire action?"

"What are you some sort of…vampire groupie?" He looked a little disgusted.

"Oh hell no." She said, shaking her head. "The way I see it, vampires are like cockroaches." She chuckled. "And I'm the fuckin' Orkin man."

"You…_hunt_ vampires?"

Neo stepped back, spread her arms and bowed. "Demon Queller, at your service." She said, happily.

One of the girls cleaning stopped and looked at them. "You're playing the high school this weekend." She said, grinning. "I've got tickets to your concert."

Neo swept over and looked at her. "You a fan of our music?"

"Hell yes, I am." She said, happy as could be. "I've got your CD. I bought it at your Holocene show about six months ago."

"Cool. What's your name?" Neo said.

"Holly Green."

"Damn." Cerri said, chuckling. "You got made fun of in school."

"Well, Holly. Come find us after the concert. We'll hook you up with some swag." She sighed and shook her head. "Christ I hang out with Alexia too much."

The girl nodded. "I will."

"Get back to work." The man said to the girl. She nodded and went back to cleaning. "If you girls are really looking for the hangout, try the Red Apple Inn a few blocks down on ninth. Word has it they run the place."

"What is it, a hotel?" Neo asked as he set her order on the counter.

He nodded. "A lot of truck drivers come through town and stay there. Some never make it back out."

Neo thanked him and took her order. The girls left and drove along the road, past the motel in question. "Seems innocent enough." The potential said. "Let's get back to the trailer and eat." A few minutes later, they were around the table hashing out a plan. "Me and Quan are gonna hit the place and see about getting a room." She looked at Cerri. "We'll get in with our cameras on and walk a perimeter then get inside a room."

"With Rite's help, I should be able to create a good 3D mockup of the place." The girl said.

"What if they try to kill you?" Talia asked.

"That's what I'm hoping for. We'll take the Chevy and leave you guys the Ford. Gear up and stay frosty. It's only a two minute drive from here to there. We can hold out that long if things really go south." Neo said. "Besides that, you saw what's going on in this town. We got a lot of ground to make up for."

"Fair enough." Talia said. "But there is something I've been wondering about. This is a travel trailer, not an apartment or a house…"

Cerri shook her head. "Remember? We had Max check it out. As soon as we got it signed over to us, Max couldn't come in without an invite."

"Oh." Talia said. "I keep forgetting Max is a vampire."

"She definitely ain't your typical neck monkey." Neo said. She looked at her watch and looked outside. "Sun's down. Let's go and play."

Cerri stepped up to Quan and kissed her intently. "Be careful. Come back to me."

"I will, baby." She said in return.

Talia moved up to Neo. "I suppose it would be a waste of time to try and talk you out of this."

Neo stared at her. "See, this is what I was talking about. A month ago, I would have done this without a second thought. But right now, if you asked me to stay here…I probably would." She shook her head. "So please, don't ask."

"I wouldn't dream of it." The Watcher pulled her in and offered a warm, loving kiss. "I want you to be careful. But teach the vampires in this town who you are. Just make sure you come back to me. I know how you get after a fight."

"You got it." Neo said, turning to Quan. "You ready?" The pair left the travel trailer, dressed in their tactical gear with their leather jackets on over the body armor. They had their assault vests in the backpacks they carried.

Quan climbed into the driver's side of the massive Chevy and pulled away from the RV park. She looked to her right. Neo was sitting, bobbing her leg. "You're looking forward to this, aren't you?"

"God, yes." The potential said. "I really haven't had any good action since that group outside the warehouse. That was what? Two weeks ago?"

"So the rednecks outside the restaurant in Nehalem don't count?"

"Fuck no. They were drunk hillbillies. That shit so doesn't count." She watched as they came into town. "I just need to kick some ass and not have to sweat being careful. I had to watch my shit with those hicks. This is just gonna be mindlessly wreckin' people's shit."

Quan chuckled. "I love you, sometimes you know that?"

"You're taken, there Mrs. Beefstick." Neo said, popping her knuckles. "Here we are."

They pulled up and into a parking spot. The girls tapped their cameras and their earpieces. "Cerri, can you hear us?" Quan asked.

"I got you. Five by five." The girl returned. "Have fun, ladies."

They stepped out of the rig and gathered their gear. They didn't bother locking the truck. Chances were good they'd be leaving in a big damn hurry. Neo pulled a silver cross out of her pocket and draped it over her neck, leaving it exposed on the outside of her jacket. Quan had 'Coexist' written in religious symbols about her neck, so she wasn't really worried about anyone trying to go Lestat on her.

They entered the main office and stepped up to the front desk. Quan pulled the little silver bell away from Neo and tapped it once. The younger girl looked at her. "What?"

"I know you. You'd be banging on it for god knows how long, annoying my ass." Quan said, quietly.

Neo shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, probably." A few seconds later a man in his mid thirties came out of the back office.

He looked pretty normal, to be honest. He gave the girls a smarmy smile. He shifted a little way from Neo when he dropped his eyes to the necklace she was wearing. He did his best to make it look natural. "What can I do for you ladies?" He asked. His voice was relatively cultured, which sent up all kinds of red flags to both girls.

"We'd like a room for the night." Quan said.

"A bed and a shower. We're fuckin' exhausted." Neo offered.

"We can do that for you. What kind of room?"

"One bed." Quan said. "We don't mind sharing." She leaned against Neo with a grin.

He chuckled and pulled out the paperwork. "Cash, debit or credit?"

"Oh, we can do cash." Quan said, pulling her wallet out. "What's the damage?"

"Sixty three dollars and fifty five cents." He said still smiling. "Is that your Chevrolet out there?" He asked, trying to make smalltalk.

"Yeah. It's a bit of a gas hog, but it gets the job done." Neo said, leaning on the counter.

"So where you ladies headed?" He asked.

"Oh, we're just enjoying the country road. Takin' 101 down to California. Bit of a vacation." The potential said. "Just cruisin'."

"That sounds like it could be fun." He took the three twenties and the five that Quan handed him. He gave her back her change and pulled the key card from the desk drawer and dropped it into the activator before handing it to them. "Room twenty three. Just up the stairs to your right. You ladies have a good night."

"Oh, I'm sure we will." Neo said, grinning at him. They moved off and headed outside. Neo made a quick circle of the building, making sure to give Cerri all the angles she could. They then made their way up to their room.

"Not bad, actually." Quan said, looking around. She stepped over to the bed and sat on the edge. "It's actually pretty soft."

Neo tossed her backpack down and looked at every corner of the room. "Doesn't look like we're being watched." She said. She then grabbed one of the chairs in the room and dropped down into it, putting her feet on the edge of the bed. "Did you catch his reaction when he saw the cross?" She asked, tapping the silver.

"Yeah. He was subtle about it. Be he's definitely a suck head." Quan said. She got up and moved over, looking outside into the parking lot. "Looks like we're the only ones here tonight."

"Well, then let's get this party started." Neo said. "Cerri you on?"

"I hear you. I'm getting Rite to make the calls now." Cerri said. "Give me five."

Neo nodded and rose to her feet, pulling her assault vest out of her backpack. Quan pulled her long sleeve shirt off and kept only her body armor and her gloves on. She likewise removed her pants, keeping on only a pair of bike shorts. She decided to leave her boots on to keep from hurting her feet.

"Alright." Cerri said. "We've got a list of occupied rooms." She read the numbers off. Seven rooms in all. "You guys just gonna start going room to room?"

"That's the plan." Neo said. "This is gonna be fucking epic." She pulled her hair back and tied it into a tight ponytail. "Make sure you get my good side."

The girls left the room, ready for war. They moved to the room two doors down and knocked loudly. As soon as the door opened, Neo lifted her fist, showing the woman that answered the back of her MMA glove. It sport a large intricately embroidered cross stitched into the leather.

The woman immediately hissed and recoiled. Neo smiled and lunged at her, bearing her to the ground. She appeared to be the sole occupant of the room. Neo drove her fist down across the woman's face, dazing her. She hammered her again and again, busting her nose, breaking her jaw and knocking teeth from her mouth. She then gripped her throat as she pulled a stake from her vest. "The name's Neo. Tell your friends when you get to hell, motherfucker." She rammed the stake into her heart, dusting her.

Quan chuckled. "You look like you enjoyed that."

"Fuck yeah, I did." Neo said. "She was kind of a pussy, though." They left the room and trotted along the balcony to the next.

They used the same ploy, knocking on the door. This time a boy in his late teens, possibly early twenties answered the door in a pair of sweats and no shirt. He was slender but looked to be in decent shape. Like the woman before, he hissed and stepped back when Neo showed him the cross. She blasted him in the gut with hard kick that threw him backward into the side of the bed. A girl, no older than her, rose naked from beneath the blankets. She pulled the sheet up to cover herself. "What are you doing?" She asked, trying to sound terrified.

Quan sprinted across the room, grabbing her by the hair and touching the cross tattoo on her forearm to the girl's head. The vampire's skin sizzled as the religious icon made contact. "Well, look at that." She slammed the girl's face into the wall with enough force to crack the wood and plaster. She then turned and threw the girl into the entertainment center, smashing the television and wood to splinters.

Neo, meanwhile reached down for the boy. "Not a good day to be a bad guy." She said, wrapping her hand around his throat.

He went game face and snarled. "Fuck you." He said, gripping her wrist. He did his best to break her grip, but found that she was stronger than him. "What are you? The slayer?"

"Oh, you ain't that lucky, motherfucker." Neo said. She grabbed his pants at the waist and lifted him bodily, before flipping him over her head to throw him down on to the table, smashing it to tinder. He growled and clutched as his hurt back. "Yeesh. Bet that hurt." She said, grinning.

Quan spun on her heel as the girl got to her feet. The reverse spin kick caught the vampire across the teeth, spinning her into the air. Quan lifted her leg up and dropped an axe kick across her ribs as the vampire rotated, hammering her into the floor. She snatched a stake from her belt and stabbed the demon, finishing her off. She looked to Neo.

The potential chuckled as the boy turned over and tried to get to his hands and feet. "Time for you to say good night, bitch." She dusted him with a stake to the back.

They moved on to the last room on the top floor. Since the tactic worked so well the previous two times, they employed it again. Knock, Cross and attack. The third room had one occupant. Neo busted the middle-aged man in the mush, staggering him back. She drew back to punch him again. He ducked below the attack and delivered a hard and fast left shot to her ribs. As she dropped her arm to protect her abdomen, his right came around with a hook, rocking her face to the side. She became the one that was staggered back.

Quan stepped into the room with her hands up. "You must have been a boxer before you died."

"Golden Gloves Champ, nineteen seventy three." He said, smiling. "Bet you weren't expecting that."

"No, we weren't. You can definitely box." Quan quickly kicked him in the crotch. "But this ain't the fuckin' ring, Ali."

Neo grabbed a chair and smashed it across his back. "This is the _fuckin'_ streets, asshole. Ain't no rules here." She said as he dropped to the carpet. She spun a broken piece of wood in her hand and hammered it home. She rose back to her feet and rubbed her jaw. "Damn, that son of a bitch could hit."

"You alright?" Quan asked, looking at her jaw.

"Yeah. Fucker just rung my bell." Neo grinned. "That's what I'm talkin' about."

The bigger woman laughed. "Something wrong with you." She said, pushing the girl's head aside, playfully. "Let's keep going. Four more rooms."

They took the stairs and made it to the bottom floor…to see four vampires step out of a pair of rooms. They'd gone game face and apparently weren't going to wait for the fight to come to them.

Neo pulled a pair of stakes and spun them in her hands. "Oh yeah!" She said, happily. She ran headlong at the monsters, happy as a clam.

The four demons rushed at her, snarling. She dove into a shoulder roll, slamming into their legs, causing two of them to tumble forward. The other two managed to jump over her.

Quan was a few paces behind her. As the vampires leapt into the air to avoid the potential, the larger girl was there to meet them. She was airborne, executing a tandem front kick, catching both vampires in the face with her massive boots. They were flipping through the air to crash unceremoniously to the stone. Quan landed beside Neo as the girl sprang to her feet.

The vampires that had tripped over the rolling form of Neo rose to their feet as well. Each of the hunters took a demon one on one.

Neo batted the monster's blows aside, barely keeping ahead of him. She was able to answer back with a hard backhand that snapped his face back. She shot a fast kick to his thigh, pitching him forward. She drove a fist into his gut then hammered him in the back with a stake, dusting him.

Quan caught the vampire's fist and slammed his elbow against her forearm, breaking it in two. He growled as the joint pulled out of socket. She then delivered a half dozen hard elbows to his ribs, breaking them with each strike. Finally she caught him with a backhand to the face, dazing him. Finally she turned and threw him against the post supporting the balcony above. She plunged the stake home a heartbeat later.

The two vamps that had eaten Quan's giant boots finally found their footing. The girls attacked as one, each stabbing the vampires in the chest in tandem. They blew away in the night breeze. "Two to go." Quan said, leading the way.

Neo ran and dove into a flying kick, smashing open the door. She suddenly felt bad for what she interrupted. Two women, one laying flat on her back, the other with her head between the firsts' legs were in the throes of passion. They both started as she crashed through the door. She noted with a grin that both were rather attractive. She shut the door after Quan had stepped through. She then crossed her arms. "Don't stop on my account." She said, grinning and leaning against the wood.

"What the fuck are you doing in our room?" The girl on the bed asked, hostilely.

Quan pulled a canteen filled with holy water from her belt and opened it, splashing it over the pair. It immediately hissed as it came into contact with them. "You're vampires. We kill you for a living." She said, putting the holy water back. "But you can keep fuckin'. You shouldn't die mid-coitus. That's just lame. We can wait."

The pair went game face and lunged off the bed at the two hunters. Neo took two running steps and speared one of the girls to the ground.

Quan drew back and threw her stake, taking the second girl through the heart, dusting her. She moved over and sat down, waiting for Neo to finish with her vampire.

The potential gripped the vamp's throat and hammered her in the mouth repeatedly. Bit by bit, she knocked the vampire's teeth out. "Kinda hard to be a vampire with no teeth, huh?" She asked. She rose and lifted the vampire with her. "You know, couple month ago, it might have been my pussy your tongue was buried in. Now? I got me someone really special. Which means…" She let the girl go and punched her as hard as she could in the chest, sending her flying across the room to slam into the wall. "I don't need you for anything but a punching bag." She proceeded to pound the girl into lumpy marinara. Finally, she dusted the vampire. She was breathing heavily, but couldn't deny how much fun she was having.

"One room left." Quan said, turning toward the door. She almost reached it when it slammed open. A host of vampires began pouring into the room. A quick tally revealed a total of eight. "That's a lot of vampires."

Neo reached back and pulled her bowie from its sheath. "Yeah, it is." She said, grinning. She spun the blade in her hand. "Who dies first?" She asked.

Quan lifted her hands and readied herself for the fight.

"You two need help?" Cerri asked as she watched the gathered throng.

"Fuck, no." Neo said. "This is what I've been waiting for."

"Just don't get dead." Cerri said. "None of us can sing for shit."

The vampires ran at the pair, ready to tear them apart. Neo rammed her blade into the first vamp's neck, wrenching sideways, nearly taking his head off, leaving it attached by nothing but an errant flap of skin. She shoved him aside as he slowly crumbled to dust and put a boot into the next, forcing him back. She drove the stake in her right hand into his chest as he recovered dusting him. A third vamp was on her in an instant, forcing her back against the wall. He had her arms in his hands and had them out wide, leaving her exposed. He went game face and leaned in to snarl at her. She immediately shot her head forward, taking his nose between her teeth and biting down, hard. He screamed and tried to pull away. She closed her mouth, taking his nose off. He drew back, gripping his face. She spat the gobbet of ruined flesh back at him and booted him in the crotch before ramming her stake in, taking him out.

In the span of fifteen seconds, three vampires had fallen by the wayside. "Seems tonight just isn't your night, boys." She said, chuckling.

Quan wasn't as snappy or witty as the horde came at them. Her fists flew, taking one vampire across jaw, sending him to the floor. The second earned the same fate, experiencing nothing but fireworks behind his eyes before he, too tasted the carpet. The third showed a little more caution and came in with his arms protecting his face…leaving his body exposed. A punishing snap kick taught him the error of his ways. He was thrown to the side, bouncing off of the wall of the room. As he staggered back toward her, she let fly with a massive right cross that threw him to the floor with his friends.

She spun, and caught a fourth with a hard backhand that turned him completely around. She drove her knee into his back as she wrapped her hands about his chin, pulling backward. His spine snapped, sending a sharp crack into the room. He fell to the ground, gripping his back.

The last vampire slid to a stop as she watched the pair of girls decimate her companions in record time. She turned and ran.

"Where do you think you're going?" Neo said, flipping her knife over in her hand and hurling it with all her strength. The blade bit into the vampire's back, throwing her to the ground.

Quan made her way around the room, dusting the dazed undead. Neo, meanwhile strolled over to the girl, tore her knife free and flipped her onto her back. She knelt beside the girl and spun the weapon in her hands. "Now. You're gonna tell me how many of you there are in this city."

"I don't know." She said, softly.

Neo plunged the knife into the girl's chest, causing her to scream. "Wrong answer."

"I really don't know." The girl said. "I'm not lying, honest."

"Ballpark it for me." Neo said. "Give me your best guess."

"Fifty, maybe sixty." The girl offered. "Master tries to keep it under wraps. But people have gotten smart. They know what's going on. They adjust their lives to keep us from getting to them."

"How many more of you are there in this motel?" Neo asked.

"Just me and Walter."

"Is Walter the guy that works in the office?" Neo asked her. The girl nodded. Neo smiled. "Thank you for your cooperation." She said, before putting the blade against the woman's neck and pressing, taking her head off. "Looks like we gotta see Walter."

Neo kicked the door open, sending glass and wood all over the room. "Oh, Walter." She said, moving inside. "We have a bone to pick about your motel." She chuckled. "Smells like someone died."

Quan moved in behind her. "I don't think he's willing to help us."

Neo jumped over the counter and kicked the door open to the apartment behind the desk. "I'd like to speak with management." She said, grinning.

He stood against the back wall of the room, looking scared. "Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm…"

"I swear to god, Neo if you say you're just the cook, I'm smacking you upside the head." Quan said.

Neo turned to regard her. "Way to ruin the moment, Biker Slut Barbie." She turned to look at him. "I was _gonna _say…you know what, fuck it. Don't matter now." She stepped around the desk. "I need information. You play me straight and you live to see another moonrise." She gripped his throat and lifted him from the ground. "Is your master named Părintele Noapte?" She asked him.

"How…how did you know?" He was genuinely curious.

"Because he's just made my shit list." Neo said. "You're gonna do me a favor. You're gonna tell him I'm lookin' for him. You tell him that his time in this town is done. You tell him I'm comin'. And hell's coming with me."

"Who…who are you?" He asked again.

"Revelations, motherfucker. I got me a pale horse all kinds of death for fuckers like you." She let him go, grabbed his arm, pulling it out wide. "I need to send a really clear message." She then severed it with one quick strike of her blade. He screamed and fell to the floor. She tossed the limb to the ground. "The name's Neo. Tell him to ask around."

Without another word, the pair left the motel, climbing into the truck and speeding away.

"He's gonna be pissed." Quan said, chuckling.

"I hope so." Neo said as she looked out the window. "This town needs a fucking enema."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Neo and Quan pulled up to the RV park and came to a stop at the trailer. They climbed out of the Chevy and went inside. "Anything?" Neo asked Cerri as they entered.

"No. The place has been pretty quiet since you cleaned up." The girl offered. "Oh, wait. Looks like your canary just left the cage. Probably to go and cry to daddy."

"Good." Neo said, moving to the fridge. "Give the fuckers something to think about." She leaned back against the counter and sipped from the soda before putting it against her lip. "Christ, that boxer had some fuckin' juice to him."

"Yeah and when he put up a fight, you damn near creamed your cargos." Quan said, sitting beside her girlfriend.

"True." The Potential said, chuckling. She looked at her watch. "I'm hitting the sack. Come on, British. Let's go relieve some stress."

Talia sighed and smiled. "A Watcher's work is never done." She said, rising from the table. "I'm bringing the first aid kit. I'll like to take a look at your lip."

Neo stepped into the backroom and shut the accordion style door that separated it from the rest of the trailer. She stripped out of her body armor, hanging it up before taking off the rest of her clothes. She sat on the edge of the bed and allowed Talia to fuss over her. "Did you have a good seat for the show?"

Talia nodded as she looked over the teen. "I did as a matter of fact. And I have learned that you are entirely too reckless."

"Yeah, I know. Took a few shots I probably didn't need to." Neo conceded. "Can't help it, though."

"True. But proper martial arts training would have helped you. Look at Quan. She barely got touched."

"Can't argue that. She's all precision and shit. She's a scalpel. I'm a fucking wrecking ball." Neo admitted. "Gotta train more, I think."

"Always room to improve." Talia said, cleaning girl's lip with a cotton swab and alcohol.

Neo tried not to twitch. "You're using alcohol and iodine to teach me a lesson, aren't you?" She asked.

"How very astute of you." Talia said, continuing her work.

"I'm not gonna die on you, you know." Neo said. "I know that for a fact."

That stopped Talia. She looked at the girl and cocked her head. "How can you possibly know that?"

"I just know." Neo said. "Until every single person I give a shit about is dead, I'm gonna be alive and kicking. It's just something I know to be true."

"What makes you…"

"Because I'm going to die on my knees in the dark alone." Neo said, staring into Talia's eyes. "I know because when I'm about to die, I'm going to be afraid." She shook her head. "And there's only one thing I'm afraid of."

"What's that?"

"I'm afraid of being alive when I have nothing left to fight for." Neo said simply. "Right now, I got you, I got the girls and I got the respect that comes with being what I am and doing what I do. Until I lose all that, I'm not goin' anywhere." She sighed and leaned back. "I'm gonna be the last man – or girl – standing. Just the way it is."

"Awful presumptuous." Talia said. "Given that there are girls in this world that are stronger, older and faster than you."

"True." Neo said. "But name me _just one_ that has _my_ reputation." She cocked her head to the side. "Then of those you _could_ name, how many of them are human?"

Talia thought about it and honestly, in all her years and experience had never known one single individual that had the kind of reputation that Neo had when it came to the supernatural community. "I can't name anyone."

"Exactly." Neo said. "And think about it. I mean, seriously think about it. If I were to believe in the whole heaven and hell bullshit, where do you think I'd end up?"

"You'd be in heaven, Alice." Talia said, matter of fact. "And there is nothing you can say that would convince me otherwise."

"What in the fuck are you smokin'?" Neo said, raising an eyebrow. "You musta bumped your fuckin' head. There ain't a snowballs chance in hell I'd end up in heaven."

"You are a warrior of light, Alice. You're doing…"

"I swear to fucking god, if you say I'm going God's work, I'm gonna shout groceries on the fucking carpet." Neo snapped.

"There's a saying…a very old saying. Not believing in the Devil won't protect you from him." Talia said, sitting beside the girl. "In our line of work, we don't have the luxury of atheism. We _know_ that there is a heaven and that there is hell."

"You might…"

"There are demons, Alice. Devil spawn walking the bloody earth." Talia was surprised she was getting this reaction. "You know that just as well as I do."

"No." Neo said, rising to her feet. "I don't know that, Talia. I don't know that because I don't wanna know. I don't wanna be a part of heaven and hell's fucking _jihad_. I'm a fighter. I kill shit that ain't human. That's it. I don't sweat where it came from because, frankly I don't give a fuck. They're monsters. That's all I know and that's all I ever wanna know. Different dimensions, different planes of existence, what the fuck ever. Anything beyond open heart, insert stake, I don't give two god damn shits."

"That's a pretty narrow view." Talia said, softly.

"Yeah, maybe it is." Neo said, flopping down onto the bed and laying down. "But it's the view that's kept me alive for the past six years. I don't think any more or less about what I'm killing than I absolutely have to." She looked at her Watcher. "I don't wanna save the world. It's too much. It's too big. I'm just doing what I can to protect my little corner of it. Yeah, I'll stray to help the rest of the pack now and again, but I'm not a hero. I never wanted to be. I just wanted to do one of the three things I do best without having to worry about reining my shit in."

Talia looked at her and just shook her head. "I worry about you."

Neo regarded her. "I know you do. Part and parcel of being in love with someone, I guess. Our positions were reversed…well, I'd probably chain you up and stuff you in a closet to keep you from even approaching the retarded shit I do." She chuckled. "I mean what me and Quan did tonight? That was just balls out fucking stupid. We had the element of surprise on our side. That many vampires would have swarmed us and ripped us apart. We ain't gonna have that next time."

"No." Talia said. "Those were thugs. Second string newbies. A few veterans aside, they were the weakest crop. If the great Alice Frog is going to die, it's going to be with a mountain of dust about her and her sights set on a true Master. And even then…" She moved up and lay next to the girl. "My money is on you."

Neo gripped Talia's waist and pulled her over on top. "That's a good bet."

The sun fell across Neo's face, causing her to cover her eyes with her arm. "Fuck." She said. "My fuckin' crotch hurts." She turned to see Talia still snoring. The woman's arm and leg were draped over her. She sighed and brushed a bit of sweat matted hair from the beautiful Watcher's face. "Love you." She said, kissing the woman's forehead. She then extricated herself slowly.

Talia groaned and lifted her head, looking half-lidded at Neo. "Where are you going?"

"Grab a shower then hit the town and grab everyone some breakfast." Neo leaned down and kissed Talia. "Go back to sleep, baby. I'll wake you up with food and coffee when I get back."

"Okay." Talia said, falling back to sleep immediately.

Neo showered, slid on a pair of cargo pants, her bra and a tank top. She left a note taped to the refrigerator and grabbed the keys to the Chevy before leaving the trailer. The sun had just crested the horizon. She checked her watch. Seven twenty four AM. She nodded and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road. "Not a whole lotta choices." She said, looking at the hours posted on the doors. "Here we go. Blue Moon Café." She pulled to a stop in front of the small eatery. She climbed out and headed inside.

It was a nice enough place. The décor was kitschy, but had a good somewhat down-home feel to it. There were, perhaps a dozen tables with a few people scattered here and there, drinking coffee, reading newspapers and just being small town folk. She noticed that everyone turned and regarded her as she came through the door. She was used to the attention and promptly ignored it. The front counter was made up of a large glass display case housing homemade pies, cakes and various other pastries. Places like this actually appealed to her. Most of the time, they had good food, the portions were large and the prices were decent. She stepped up and began perusing the menu board.

"Welcome to the Blue Moon Café." The girl behind the counter said, happily. "How can I help you?"

"You guys do take out?" She asked.

"We sure do. Take your time. Got a lot to choose from."

Neo looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You love what you do, don't you?"

"Of course I do." The girl said, with a genuine happiness that was, frankly, starting to get on Neo's nerves. "I help the town wake up in the morning."

As far as Neo was concerned no one, but _no one_ should be this happy in the morning. "All the coffee in the world wouldn't make me as happy as you are right now." The potential said with a tight voice. She continued to look at the board. "Give me three of your double bacon cheeseburgers." She pursed her lips. "Don't want fries. They tend to taste like shit cold."

"We have a good potato salad." The girl said. "I'll give you a small sample if you like. We get a lot of orders for it."

Neo shrugged. "What the hell. Yeah, lemme try it."

The girl nodded and went into the back, coming back out with a small Dixie cup filled with salad. It looked delicious. She took it and scooped it up in one bite, downing it. It was a bit on the tangy side, but she liked that in a potato salad. There was also an underlying taste of… _chemicals?_ Neo thought. She began feeling herself getting sleepy. She looked at the girl with her brow furrowed to see the cashier biting her lip. "You fucking bitch." Neo growled.

The young lady was shocked beyond belief when, even slowed by a powerful sedative, Neo snatched her by her long blonde hair.

Time slowed to a crawl. Several things happened at once. The patrons of the restaurant erupted in gasps, screams and shrieks. Neo slammed the girl's face down into the display case, shattering the glass. The employee's flesh was shredded and bloody. Neo could feel her strength slowly fading. Whatever happened, she was gonna send a message. She lifted the blonde's head and drove it down again, ramming a large shard of glass up into the girl's throat. Blood erupted out over the ground.

As she staggered back from the case, the world became a blur. "Mother…fuckers."

The diners all dropped the shades. Two hooded figures came out of the back, looking to take Neo down. The first of them ran at her full tilt. Neo shook her head, letting the adrenaline fight off whatever she was doped with. She stepped into him and knelt, driving her shoulder into his gut, gripping his legs and rose, throwing him up and over her. He slammed down onto a table, smashing it to flotsam.

Neo struggled to maintain her feet. A hard right cross from the second assailant nearly took her head off. She fell to her knees. In a moment of desperation, she punched her opponent in the crotch. He let out a strangled grunt and moved back. She lunged at him, spearing him to the ground. She landed on top of him and quickly gripped his throat, closing her strong fist around his windpipe. She was weakening rapidly now. In a last ditch effort, she ripped his throat out, spraying blood all over the room.

That was all she had. She slowly pitched over, watching as the room faded.

"Christ." She heard someone say. "Bitch is tough. Let's get her out of here." Then she heard nothing at all.

Talia stretched and yawned. Her nether regions throbbed. "Good lord." She said, her voice hoarse. She rose and gathered a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and her undergarments before heading in for a shower. She made it quick as she didn't want to hog the hot water.

She made her way out to the main room to see the girls all standing and sitting around looking deadly serious. "I say, it's quit glum out here."

They all regarded her. "Neo's not back yet." Sadiira said, sternly. "This isn't like her."

"And her cell goes straight to voicemail." Cerri said.

"Perhaps she forget to…"

"She doesn't forget." Cerri said. "Neo's a stickler about the big three."

"Big three?" Talia asked. "Big three what?"

"Rules." Quan said. She ticked them off on her fingers as she explained. "Never turn your cell off if you leave the group. Always take a weapon and never go out after dark alone."

"How long has she been gone?" Talia asked. "She said she was getting breakfast when she left."

"She's been gone almost two hours." Cerri said. "I started monitoring the police bands and calling medical offices an hour ago. The only thing I got was a disturbance at the Blue Moon Café."

"What happened there?" Talia asked, moving closer. Lead filled her stomach.

"A female victim died. They aren't releasing the details yet, but according the prelims it's being ruled as an accidental death. An employee slipped and put her own face through a glass display case."

"Bullshit." Nadiira snapped. "It's Neo's doing. I know it."

Talia nodded her agreement. "I think so as well. Any mention of Alice?"

"No. Nothing." Cerri said. "I don't understand. During the day, she should have been safe. And if they did manage to get her, the building would have been trashed."

"Is there any footage of the building?" Talia asked.

Cerri brought up the news feed. "This is all there is."

Talia looked at the scene. She furrowed her brow and looked at Cerri. "What are the hours of this establishment?"

"Seven AM to Five PM." Cerri said. "Good reviews, too."

"If they open at seven AM…" Talia pointed to the front of the building. "Then why are their shades drawn?"

"I didn't notice that before. You're right. That doesn't make sense. You'd think being a community that knows about vampires, they'd wanna keep as much light in the place as possible." Quan offered.

"Oh, shit." Cerri said, rubbing her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry. I should have been monitoring her better."

Quan stepped over and pulled Cerri in, hugging her. "It's not your fault, sweetie."

Talia leaned back and thought. It didn't make sense. Why would the restaurant do that? "Cerridwen? We there any other victims? Anyone else missing?"

"Not from what I could tell." The girl said, her voice very small.

"Buck up, dear. We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We should have been more cautious. Nothing for it. Now we have to concentrate on finding our lost lamb." She bit her lip and stared a moment. "Let's examine what we know."

"Jack and fucking shit." Cerri snapped. She looked at Quan. "Sorry." She knew her girlfriend didn't like her swearing that much.

Quan smiled and hugged her again. "It's okay, baby. Right now, you got the right to cuss a little."

"We actually know quite a bit." Talia said as she began pacing. "We know that she went to that restaurant." She pointed to the picture. "In your anger, you missed this."

Cerri looked at her screen and nodded. "That's the front of the Chevy."

"So we know she went there. It was also the only restaurant open at the time." Talia said.

"But that doesn't explain what happened to her." Sadiira said, her voice ice cold and deadly calm.

Talia could tell she was already deep into planning. She shook her head. "We do. It is obvious. If there is no mention of her either on the news or on the police scanner, then we can deduce that she was abducted. Given that more damage wasn't done to the establishment, because let us face the facts. Alice would not go quietly or calmly."

"Unless she was forced to." Quan said. "Maybe they drugged her."

"I thought of that. It seems to fit. But even the most powerful of sedatives take time to work." Talia stopped pacing as something occurred to her. "Oh, bloody hell."

"What?" Cerri said.

"The only victim was a human girl. There was no one else even hurt." She looked at Cerri. "Am I right?" The girl nodded. Talia turned to the twins. "You two know ballistics and forensics, yes?" They nodded. "And if the girl 'fell'…" She made quotation marks in the air. "Through the glass case, it would have to have been with quite a bit of force to kill her, yes?"

"We think Neo killed her." Sadiira said.

"But Neo wouldn't kill a human unless she had a damn good reason." Nadiira said. "She'd have broken every bone in her body, but she wouldn't have killed her."

"I believe I know why she did." Talia said. "The girl was a familiar."

"What's that?" Cerri asked. "Isn't that what a Wizard or Witch's animal companion is called?"

Talia nodded. "It's actually an infrequently used term these days. Almost unheard of anymore. Another term for it is human servant. People that devote themselves to a vampire, upon promise of someday becoming one."

"We've never had to deal with that before. Most people are just terrified of vampires." Quan said. "There was that one group that were like, groupies."

"It is very much similar." Talia said. "And that puts all the pieces together. The most likely scenario was that Alice went into the restaurant and was poisoned somehow by this girl and fell victim to our young potential before she succumbed."

"But what are the chances of someone knowing exactly when and where Neo would be?" Quan asked. "That's all a might convenient."

"There are actually a couple theories I have if anyone's interested." Cerri said.

"Shoot." Quan said.

"Option one; We're being watched. She was followed and someone knew where she would be going and called ahead. Though how the restaurant staff was able to get a sedative so fast is beyond me." Cerri said. "Option two, and as far as I'm concerned, the most likely, is that most if not all of the townsfolk are in on it."

"That doesn't make any fuckin' sense." Quan snapped.

"Better to be the devil's right hand than in his path." Cerri said.

"She has a point. To survive the night, the people of this town, those that haven't been able to move away, have more likely as not formed some sort of truce with the undead element. Turn a blind eye in exchange for open access and operation. It _does_ make sense if you think about it."

"And here we show up and start ruining people's shit." Quan said.

"None of this tells us where Neo is." Sadiira said. "We've got the who, the what, the how and the why, but we still don't have a where."

"No." Talia said, her voice finally starting to crack. "No we do not."

Quan stood and began cracking her knuckles. "Then let's start asking around."

Talia looked at her and nodded. "I believe we should do just that."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Rise and shine…_Neo_." A deep voice cut through the haze in her brain.

She blinked the blurriness from her eyes and sat up. She was in a small room. Maybe ten feet to a side. A single dim light sat inset in the ceiling in the middle of the room. She currently sat on a military cot against the wall opposite a large metal door with a single small window in it. The walls appeared to be stone, painted over in a dull gun metal gray. The room itself smelled sterile. "Okay. I'm up." She said, looking around. "You gonna tell me who the fuck you are, or do I have to guess?"

"I think you already know who I am." He came in over a PA system. "Word on the street is you're looking for me."

"Părintele Noapte, I presume?" She asked, looking about. She turned and leaned against the wall, resting her arms on her knees. "You know…" She said, suddenly looking down at the cot. "These things are surprisingly more comfortable that one would think."

"Explains why the army sleeps on them." He admitted. "I'm sure you have questions."

"Oh, fuck tons. But if my read in the landscape is anything close to accurate, I'm the prisoner and you're the corrupt warden. Any question I ask is either gonna be met with a beat-down or some cryptic ass answer that I'm gonna be too dumb to understand. I may be the leader of Demon Queller, but I sure as hell ain't the brains of the operation."

"So you have nothing you'd like to know?" He invited.

"Okay. I'll bite. What do you hope to gain by kidnapping me? Worst thing you can do to me is turn me. Girl's would have me dead inside of fifteen minutes." Neo shrugged. "Anything short of that and it's a wasted exercise."

"Oh, I have no intention of turning you. I intend to break you." He offered, his tone again humorous.

Neo immediately fell her knees in the middle of the room. "No. Don't. I'll do anything. Just stop the torture." She got back up and sat as she was. "Done. Next?"

"Amusing." He said with a chuckle. "But it isn't going to be quite that easy."

"Didn't figure." She said, sighing. "So let me ask another question. How, exactly are you planning on breaking someone who isn't afraid of anything? I mean, you get right down to it, that's what psychological destruction is all about. Finding what your subject is afraid of and exploiting it. I like pain, I love to fight, I'm not afraid of dying and I don't have a conscience. What could you possibly hope to do to me?"

"Are you familiar with the phrase 'all things in moderation'?" He asked.

"Never been a fan of it myself. Find what you like and indulge. That's how I do it. That's how dad did it…and I gotta say, it's worked out pretty good so far."

"Indeed. So I plan on indulging you. You say you like to fight." The door suddenly swung open. She stared down a long hallway to what looked to be a fenced in enclosure. "Then fight you shall."

"Let me guess. Gladiator shit until I get too tired and hurt to fight? Then one of your lackeys, or _you_ finishes me off slow and painful like?"

"But not before you beg me to kill you." He returned.

"You're in for a long day, hoss." Neo said, rising to her feet.

"I'm not getting any older."

She sighed and shook her head, bouncing on her feet to loosen up. She pulled her tank top and ripped the bottom of it off, leaving her wearing a ratty half-top. She then tore the cloth into two strips and tightly wrapped her fists. She was still wearing her steel toe boots so she wasn't worried about her feet. "Christ. Walked right into that one. At least be cool and give me a stake. If I'm fighting vamps, give me a sporting chance."

"Admitting weakness. I admire that in my prey." He said. A long wooden stake dropped from the darkness above, clattering to the floor. "Good luck, _Alice_. You're not in wonderland anymore."

"Oh, god. Really?" She said, looking up. "You just had to go there, didn't you?"

"Admit it. If I didn't make at least _some_ sort of reference, you'd have been disappointed." He offered lightly.

That actually made her laugh. "You know, you're probably right." She strolled down the hallway and into the large circular enclosure. It was perhaps twenty feet in diameter and surrounded by a chain link fence that was capped with a razor wire dome. "Home Depot must love you." She said, looking around. She could see video cameras surrounding the fence. The whole construction seemed to be inside some sort of warehouse. Across from the hallway she entered was another door set at the back of long corridor. "Round one, I assume?" She asked.

"Indeed." He said. "Ready yourself."

The door at the end of the opposing hall opened. A girl no older than her screamed and ran through the hallway at full speed. Neo was a little confused. For a vampire, she was moving catastrophically slow. She waited as the girl drew closer and closer. When she was within but a pair of paces, Neo went to work. She took one step forward, one to the side and delivered a hard, brutal uppercut that caught the poor girl in the chin. Her opponent flipped into the air and slammed to the hard concrete floor.

Neo turned to look down at her, ready for her to bound back up. She frowned as she noticed that the girl was staring lifelessly at the ceiling. She was laying on her stomach. "She was human." She said, matter of fact.

"She was. Congratulations. You just murdered someone." He said, obviously happy with himself.

"Huh." Neo said, walking back toward the door. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Oh, we aren't finished yet." He said. "That was just your warm-up. Your real opponent is coming into the arena now."

Neo turned to see a woman slightly taller than she was with a bit of muscle on her. She had to give credit, she was pretty. "And who might you be?"

"Your executioner." The girl said. "I've been told all about you." She shook her head. "I'm not impressed."

Neo bobbed on her feet and rolled her head around on her shoulders. "They never are to start with. If vampires are later, I wouldn't know. They're dead by then."

"I won't be." The woman said, squaring off. She had some martial arts training, this one. "Say when."

Neo sighed and crossed her arms. "When."

The vampire came closer, inch by inch. "You aren't going to defend yourself?"

"What's the point?" Neo asked. "I kill you, there's just gonna be another one right behind you. I can prolong the inevitable or I can just say fuck it and let you kill me. Either way I'm dead."

The vampire stopped and got out of her defensive stance. She died a second later as Neo plunged the stake into her heart. "Idiot." The potential said, shaking her head.

She sighed as another vampire came running at her. This one looked fresh off the varsity football team. He was even wearing a blue and white letterman jacket. She held the stake ice-pick fashion, waiting for him. He growled and stormed at her with a vengeance. He was pretty thick and had a good run. She waited until he was close and lunged at him, spearing him to the ground. The impact made her shoulders numb, but she managed to take him down. She quickly drew back and hammered him in the throat with her left fist.

Even dead, most vampires, unless they have several years under their belt, still react to having their necks damaged. They forget that they don't need to breathe. He did exactly as she expected. He gripped his throat. She realized that she had to buy time for the girls to find her. She was certain that they would, she just needed to stall long enough for them to do it. She tucked her stake into the back of her pants and used her fists.

The vampire could do little more than cover as she pounded every part of him she could find. Bones broke as she clobbered him. He didn't expect her to be anywhere near as strong as she was. She rose and backed away from him, leaving him on the floor in pain. She circled him, waiting for him to rise. He got to his hands and knees, coughing.

She delivered a punishing kick to his gut, lifting him from the floor and dropping him on his back. She didn't spare any words. She just continued to move. "Come on, girls. Anytime now." She said to herself. She put a boot to the vampire's head as he again tried to rise. "Seriously. Any time."

Quan didn't say a word as she drove the large blue Ford through the streets. She could see eyes watching her as they moved along. For hours they'd been asking through town. They started with the employees of the Blue Moon Café. Cerri had tracked them all down and one by one, Quan had asked them, some a little harder than others where Neo was. That only led them to the motel. Given that they killed every vampire they saw there, they had nothing.

Quan then drove to Fat Dog Pizza. The worker there seemed to be in the know. She and Talia went inside as the twins waited in the truck. She was glad to see him working the counter. "I need to talk to you." She said to him.

He shook his head. "I'm working." He said, moving into the back.

She growled and hopped the counter, following him into the kitchen. Talia was right behind her.

"You can't be back here." He said, panicking.

"Look. I'm not here to rattle your cage. I just need some help. My best friend was kidnapped this morning. I need to know where she was taken. I know you know."

He shook his head again. "I don't. If they have her, then she's dead already."

"You obviously don't know Neo." Talia said. "If she were taken and they wanted to turn her, where would they take her?"

"Probably the hotel." He said. "I don't know anywhere else they operate out of."

"Would anyone else know?" She asked him. "Please. My friend, her girlfriend is on borrowed time."

"I really don't know. Maybe the Mayor?" He said, uncertain. "I mean she would have to know, right?"

"The mayor." Quan said, simply. "We'll ask nicely. Bitch doesn't say what I wanna hear, I stop asking nicely." They turned and left the restaurant.

"Sounds like a plan." Talia said, cracking her gloved knuckles.

Quan explained everything to the girls as they pulled to a stop in the parking lot off to the side of the building. She waited several minutes. She then reached up and tapped her earpiece. "You two in position?"

"We are." Sadiira said. She looked to her sister who lay on the roof beside her with the M-107 sniper rifle pointed at the city hall. "We're both looking right at you." She said, looking through the scope of her own matching weapon. "Things get too hot, we got you covered."

Quan nodded and stepped out of the truck. She was currently dressed head to toe in the black body armor with her fists covered with her reinforced martial arts gloves. Talia was likewise outfitted. "Cerri? You monitoring police traffic?"

"Yeah. Their actually really interested in the pair of you. They're patrolling but have an alert advisory in affect. I talked to Rite. She's patched me into the traffic light systems. I can slow em' down, but I won't be able to stop them for long."

"That's why they have us." Sadiira said. "And I have no problem wounding corrupt cops."

"They're not corrupt, they're just scared." Cerri reminded her.

"Semanitics." Nadiira shot back. "Either way, they interfere, they're eating a bullet."

"Cut the chatter." Quan said. "Game time." The pair of women entered the building. It was a rather simple layout. The big woman didn't waste any time. She ignored the guard at the front desk and made her way to the directory on the wall.

"Excuse me." He said, stepping over to her. "Can I help you?"

He was caught completely off guard as she gripped his head and slammed it into the wall, cracking the stone-affect covering. He fell limply to the ground. She reached down and lifted his pistol. She ejected the magazine, slid it into her pocket and pulled the slide off, tossing the pieces in opposite directions. She never said a word.

Talia watched the fluid movement and shook her head. "Amazing." She offered simply.

"Here." Quan said, pointing. "Come on." They turned and ran up the stairs. They reached the second floor to see people moving about and working. They ignored the employees and made their way directly to the office at the far end of the workspace.

Talia noticed, with a touch of humor, that no one was trying to stop them. With a woman as large as Quan, dressed as she was, she couldn't blame them. The pair made the door and pushed it open. They entered a receptionist's office. A woman in a mango colored blouse sat behind a desk typing away on a computer. "Can I help you?"

"I'm here to see the mayor." Quan said, moving past the woman to the door with 'Mayor' etched on the placard.

Talia was actually rather shocked when the woman shot from the seat and intercepted Quan. She stood with her arms spread in front of the door. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to make an appointment."

"Look at me." Quan said, her voice cold as ice and sharp as honed steel. "Do I look like I'm in the mood to book a fucking appointment? My best friend is missing. She was abducted this morning from the Blue Moon Café. I'm going to find out where she was taken or I will tear everything and everyone in this town apart." She leaned in to the woman. "Do you understand me?" She paused a moment. "Now move. You don't and I'll use your face as battering ram to get this door open."

The woman swallowed. "I-I'll lose my job if I let you past me." She was terrified at the threat of bodily harm, but the fear of losing her job scared her even more.

Quan growled and gripped the woman's shirt. "Fine, have it your way." She thrust the woman aside, deciding not to redecorate the door with the secretary's brain. She landed in her chair and rolled across the room. Quan kicked the door open, sending it away in a hail of shrapnel.

The Mayor, a woman in her mid-fifties, sat behind the desk, suddenly terrified out of her skin. She had a head of short graying hair, rosy cheeks and a rather matronly look to her. The name plate on her desk read Susan Eggert. "Wh-who are you? What are you doing in here?"

"Cut the bullshit, Susan." Quan snapped. "My friend went missing this morning from the Blue Moon Café. I wanna know where she is."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The woman said.

Quan gripped the side of her desk and hurled it against the wall. The bookshelves were smashed to bits, raining books down onto the floor. "I'm not gonna fucking ask again, bitch!" The big girl screamed. "Tell me where they fucking took her!"

"I don't…"

Talia interrupted her. "When know about your vampire problem, Mayor. More importantly, we know that _you_ know. Now, our friend was drugged and absconded with earlier today. We aren't blaming you for that. We are only seeking to find her. If you help us do that, we can then see about eliminating the vampire threat from this town once and for all." She then thumbed to Quan. "If she has to look the hard way, there won't be a town left."

Susan was in a quandary. "We…" She sighed and lowered her head, burying her face in her hands. She began sobbing. "I know about them." She looked up. "You have to understand, I have to protect the people in this town the best I can. So we made a deal. The vampires can have the tourists and visitors of the town, but they leave the population alone. But that doesn't stop them from recruiting. They've gotten stronger over the past few years as we've gotten weaker. We have a truce. They won't kill us, we won't kill them."

"We came into town and broke that truce." Quan said, nodding.

"What you did at the motel made them angry." Susan said. "They took your friend as payback."

"Where did they take her?" Quan asked her. "You tell me and we'll end this all for you."

"I don't know where they took her. Honest, I don't." Susan said. "But I think I know someone that does."

"You've got company." Sadiira said from her vantage point. "Patrol car. You want me to slow it down?"

Quan nodded. "Just the rig. Don't touch the driver." She then looked down at Susan. "Name."

She scratched the name onto a piece of paper. "I hope you can help us."

Quan was cut off as a series of thunderous reports sounded from outside. The big girl moved to the window. A squad car sat in the street with two officers hunkering down as the pair of girls turned their car into swiss cheese around them. They stopped firing for a moment. The officers were able to get out of the car and make for the front of the building. A moment later a grenade bounced under the rig. The resulting explosion lifted the car from the ground and blasted out all of the windows. The hulk came back to the asphalt burning. "Time to go." She said, turning from the window.

"Both officers are inside the lobby." Sadiira said. "I don't have a shot."

"That's alright. What are they using?" Quan asked, running out of the office.

"Glock 9 millimeters."

"Our vests can take that." The big woman said, simply.

"There's roof access." Cerri said. "When you get the stairs, go up. There should be a maintenance hatch."

"Good lookin' out, baby." Quan said, following the girl's instructions. They made it to the roof just as the officers made the stairs. "There any way down from here?"

"You can take the fire escapes down the rear of the building. They lead to an alleyway. There's no one there at the moment." Cerri said. She flipped over to the internal cameras of the building. "The cops are both heading for the roof." She typed in a few commands. Suddenly the fire alarm inside the building went off and the sprinkler system activated. "I'm buying you as much time as I can."

"Then let us make the most of it." Talia said, following behind her larger counterpart. "Move your arse, Anna."

They reached the edge of the roof and jumped, landing hard on the metal foyer fifteen feet down. Talia ran down the stairs while Quan simply hung over the railing and dropped to the next level. She quickly descended to the ground. "Showoff." Talia said as she ran down the steps.

Soon they were on the move again, heading around to the Ford. The twins were sprinting from across the street and they all converged. In a few heartbeats, they were off down the street with the burning police car in their wake. "She gave us the address of someone who might know where Alice is." Talia said.

Quan sped all the way. The drive took them far out of town to a rather run down looking mobile home. "This is the address." She said, looking around. They drove into the rocky driveway and stopped. The home itself looked to be in a bit of disarray, as did the property surrounding it. But strangely, the workshop beside the home appeared to be brand new construction. The massive door on front was secured with a heavy chain and a large padlock. "What was this guy's name?"

Talia looked at the paper. "It says his name is Gregory." She looked to Quan. "No last name."

"It's not Gregory." A hard, raspy voice called from the front door of the home. "Its Gre_gory_. It's Russian." They turned to regard him. He was easily Quan's height, but she had him by almost forty pounds. He had a mop of short messy gray hair on his head and serious, intense blue eyes. His face was exhibiting a few days growth of a salt and pepper beard and mustache. He was currently dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that had more stains on it that a movie theater carpet. Despite his age, they could tell he was in excellent shape. "Not that I ain't a fan of having a group of fine lookin' ladies around, but what the fuck are you all doing on my property?"

"Mayor Eggert said you might know something about our friend. She was taken this morning. We need to find her." Quan said.

"Lady? If your friend was taken, she's already dead." He said. "Forget about her and go home."

"We can't do that." Talia said. "Please. Just tell us where they would take her."

"There ain't nothing you can do." He said, shaking his head. "They wanted her and they got her. Given what y'all did last night, be thankful they didn't take all of ya." He turned and went back into the house.

Quan snarled and ran up, forcing the door open. He turned just in time for her fist to grip his shirt and slam him back against the wall. "Listen to me, grandpa. You're going to tell me everything you know or I'll…"

"You'll what?" He asked, staring at her. "Kill me? Go right ahead. Bastards already took everything else from me. I got nothin' left to lose."

That stopped Quan in her tracks. She released him and stepped back. "What do you mean? What did they do?"

"My wife and my daughter. One of the motherfuckers broke in here about three years ago. Apparently when my wife was in the kitchen, my daughter invited him in. She was only five. He drained 'em both dry and left 'em." He looked over at a bookcase. "He didn't just take my family. He took my faith."

The remaining girls had entered the house and saw what he was regarding. A photograph rested there with the man in Pastor's regalia. The white collar was draped around the photo. "I haven't set foot in the church since."

"As trite as this may sound, we are sorry for your loss." Talia said, sincere emotion in her voice. "You can help spare us that kind of pain. Tell us where we can find her."

Sadiira and Nadiira stepped up and regarded him. "Why haven't you killed yourself? Why not let them kill you?" Sadiira asked.

"Because suicide won't let me see them again." Gregory said, simply. "And if I just let them kill me, then how disgusted would my wife be with me that I didn't live for her?"

"How disgusted would she be if she saw how you were living now?" Nadiira said. "He didn't take your faith, Father." She leaned in closer. "You gave it away."

He glared at her. "Awful lotta balls comin' into a man's home and…"

"If you were a man, I might be more inclined to show some respect. But you're not. You're a god damn coward the abandoned the only thing that you had left. You wanted to have nothing to lose. It's easier."

"What do you know about it?" He asked her.

The entire group was stunned. Aside from Sadiira, this was the most any of them had ever heard her say. Nadiira turned and lifted her shirt, showing the mass of scars across her back. "Take a good fucking look."

"My god." He said, reaching out to touch them. "How strong are you to have this and yet show so much courage?"

"The scars on the inside are far worse." Sadiira said, softly.

"Wow do I feel like an asshole." Gregory said. "There's an old abandoned livestock warehouse out on Brookfield Avenue. If she's alive, hell if she's dead, that's more than likely where they'd have taken her."

"She'll be alive, trust me." Quan said. "Neo's a fighter."

"You know the saying God works in mysterious ways?" Talia asked him. He nodded. "Think about that, Father, when you read the newspapers tomorrow." She pecked him on the cheek and left the house with the rest of the girls.

He watched them climb back into the truck and pull away. He shook his head and closed the door. "Lord, protect those girls. For they battle the darkness of hell itself." But something told him that such things were old hat to the girls in the Ford.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"You have twenty minutes." The voice said to her as she walked into the cell she'd awoken in earlier. "I suggest you use it wisely."

Neo flopped down onto the bed and sighed heavily. "I'll take it." She said, laying back. She'd fought and killed six vampires so far. Each of them were faster and stronger than the last. Her fists ached. She lifted her hands and flexed them. They cracked in response. Blood soaked the makeshift wraps she'd made for herself. Granted, very little of it was hers, but what was hers came from her barked and split knuckles. Her body was sore, but she was used to that. She'd taken a few shots to the face. Her lip was still bleeding and her nose was more than likely broken. Despite all of that…she was smiling. This was the most fun she'd had in a long time.

She steadied her breathing and reached up, touching her nose. "Yeah. That's broken." She said, softly. She gripped it and pulled, causing a crunch to sound out. "Fuck." She said, tightly. She could tell that it had been put properly in place. "That sucked donkey cock."

"You are an incredible girl, you know that?" The voice offered after a few minutes. "Those that you have been fighting have been some of my best. You aren't a slayer. But…I don't believe you are completely human, either."

"I'm a potential slayer." Neo said. She didn't see a reason to keep secrets. The way she saw it, she was either gonna be dead by the end of the day or he was. So nothing he learned about her was going to do him any good. "Way I figure it, something has to set me apart from other girls, right? Powers that be just don't pick our shit at random. Gotta be a reason."

"I've researched you, Alice Frog." He said. "Your father and uncle have quite the resume."

"Yeah, dad and uncle Alan were pretty hardcore. I mean, I never saw them fight a vampire before, but given that they're both human and have been doing it for at least thirty years kinda says something." Neo offered. "You lose anyone to them? Is that why you have me?"

"No. Well, not directly. I captured you for what you did to those at the motel. You took quite a few from me." He returned.

"Just doing my job, Hoss." Neo said. She then chuckled. "I'd like to say it's nothing personal, but that's bullshit and I think we both know it. I enjoy the hell out of it."

"Oh, I'm sure you do. But you won't enjoy what's coming next." He said.

"Lemme guess. Two on one round?" She asked him.

"How very perceptive of you. And they're under orders not to kill you right away. They're going to punish you, first."

"Yeah. Figured." Neo said. "Do I at least get the privilege of killing both of them before another pair come at me?"

"I'll grant you that small mercy."

"I appreciate it." She said. "How long you been a vampire, anyway?"

"Trying to build a rapport?" He asked.

"Not really. Just passing the time." She said, shrugging. "You don't wanna tell me, that's cool."

"Let's just say I fought for the south." He said, simply. "We lost."

"You're American?" She asked, somewhat surprised.

"My parents were both Romanian. They came to America to homestead. Even in Romania, the American dream was desired above all."

"How old were you when you were turned?" Neo asked him, sitting up. Her entire body hurt.

"Twenty six." He said, softly. "I watched my sire kill my parents before my eyes. It was just after the war. March 23rd, 1865."

"That sucks." Neo said, sincerely. "Sorry to hear that."

"You sound like you actually mean that."

"I do. No one should have to see that shit. Don't matter what you are now, back there and back then, you were human. You loved your folks. Some ass-hat killing them because he thinks it's funny and making you watch for added kicks is just bullshit. Tell me you greased the fucker."

"I killed him four minutes after I rose." The voice said. "It was gratifying, but hollow."

"Made you feel better, but you learned what they always say about revenge is true. It won't bring them back." Neo said. "I know how you feel."

"Have you lost someone close to you?"

"I'd like to say yes, but the truth is the only friends I've really ever had are the girls. Kinda sad when you think about it. I mean, I got Alexia and them from the website. Her, Kat and Faith are pretty awesome. Then there's Max, Shelby and Steele…"

"Wait a minute. Did you say Steele?" He asked. "Steele Payne?"

"Yeah. Big ass bitch. Drives a big blue Pete. Uses a lot of guns." Neo said. "You know her?"

He was silent for a very long time. Suddenly the door to the cell opened. "It is time."

"Was it something I said?" She asked, rising to her feet. She shook her arms and bounced on her feet. She spun the stake in her hand and nodded. "Time to dance." She made her way out into the arena. Two vampires, both looking like they just stepped out of a Gold's Gym waited for her. "Wonderful." She said. "This is gonna hurt." She eyed both of them as they went game face. "I don't suppose you guys would just let me get by with suckin' your dicks instead, would you?" The chuckled as they strode forward. "Didn't think so." She readied herself for them. She knew full well that they would be stronger, faster and tougher than she was. "Come on Quan." She said to herself. "Come save my ass."

The first of them struck, looking to take her head off with a hard right cross. She was glad to see he wasn't quite as agile. If she could capitalize, it would be her only saving grace. She ducked below his punch, dropping to one knee. She punched him as hard as she could in the balls. He growled and gripped his crotch, staggering back. She quickly rolled away from the pair to give herself some breathing room. She was a dead bull with her ranged game. She could easily pop one of them in the chest with her stake. The only problem was, she only had the one. And she was pretty damn sure that her captor wasn't interested in making things fair. If she lost the one stake she had, she didn't see herself getting another one any time soon.

The second slab came at her with a roar. And he was obviously a more well rounded supernatural gym rat. He gripped her shirt and lifted her from the ground, slamming her back against the chain link wall. She had to struggle to keep her hold on the stake. The impact rattled her teeth in her head as it was. He held her aloft and drove a hard shot into her ribs. She felt bones break. He drew back to loose another punch. She slammed her stake down into his eyes, one after the other.

The vampire screamed and backed away from her, dropping her to the ground. She landed and her knees buckled. Pain wracked her body every time she tried to draw a deep breath. She wrapped her arms around her chest and compressed. She felt the bones grind and crunch, returning to their proper place. "Fuck." She said, hacking. A thick gobbet of blood smacked onto the concrete. She looked at the vamp. He was staggering about, unable to see. She ran at him and leapt, jamming the stake home. He was dust a heartbeat later. She landed and fell to the ground.

A strong hand closed around the back of her neck and lifted her from the floor, hurling her across the ring. She hit the concrete with a hard slap and rolled against the side of the cage. She climbed to her feet and turned the see the first of the two coming at her. She could hear ringing in her ears. She shook her head rolled out of the way as he lunged at her. He crashed into the wall, bouncing backward. She dropped and drove the stake into the back of his knee. She threw her hip into it and forced his leg to buckle. He fell to one knee, growling. She spun and stabbed him in the chest, dusting him.

As he disintegrated, she fell back against the wall, breathing heavily and grimacing in pain. "Two more down…" She said, winded. She heard the growl and saw two more enter the ring. Both were slender, tall and looked to be sisters. And each of them were carrying what appeared to be Katanas. "Wonderful." She said. "Looks like a title bout to me." The ringing in her ears took on a deeper bass-like quality. She could almost feel it in her chest. And it was getting louder.

A smile slowly drew across her face.

Quan said nothing as she pulled up to the trailer in the big blue Ford. They all climbed out. Cerridwen immediately trotted inside. The big girl looked at the twins. "She's the most important thing in the world right now."

Sadiira nodded. "We'll protect her. If anything comes at us, we'll be ready." Nadiira nodded her agreement.

Quan turned to Talia. "You should stay here. Things aren't going to be pretty."

"I'm going. I have to." Was all the woman said. Her tone left no room for debate.

"Fair enough." Quan said, sliding behind the wheel of the lifted Chevy. She fired the rig up and tore out of the parking lot toward the location the good father had given them. "I want you to be prepared."

"She could be dead already." Talia said, solemnly. "I know."

"Oh, it's not her being dead that scares me." Quan turned and regarded the woman. "You know what I mean."

Talia sighed heavily. She really didn't want to contemplate that. If Neo were to be turned into a vampire…terror gripped her heart like an icy fist. Just being a human she was impressive enough. But the girl's rage issues would be uncontrollable with a demon in residence. There would be no end to the horror she would wreak. "I can't think of anything on earth more petrifying than that."

"We've actually talked about it." Quan said. "She sat all of us down and spelled it out for us. If she gets turned, she wanted us all to promise to take her out as quickly as possible. No hesitation." She cast a sideways glance at the Watcher. "You have to be prepared to do that."

Talia didn't respond. Mainly because she wasn't sure if she could. "There are ways to avoid that."

"No, Talia. That isn't how it's gonna work." Quan snapped. "Neo made it perfectly clear. If she gets turned, she wants to die. No giving her a soul or any of that shit. She wants to be dusted and she wants one of us to be the one to do it. You wanna be a part of this team, you gotta make that same commitment."

Talia looked at her. "I don't think that black and white, Anna. Nor will I ever. There is a world filled with magic and supernatural elements that we've never seen and haven't considered. Until I have exhausted all of my resources, I won't give up on her."

"There might come a time when you have to." Quan said. "I just want you to be ready in case you ever have to look Neo in the eye and ram a stake through her chest. It's something we've had to come to terms with."

"I'll never be ready for something like that. What's more none of you should ever be _ready_ for it. It should be the hardest thing any of you have ever had to do. The fact that you've all 'come to terms' with it is as terrible as it is disgusting."

"Don't you dare sit there and judge us, Talia." Quan growled. "You don't have that right."

"Don't I?" She asked. "I've been with you all, what? A month? A touch less? In that short amount of time, I've fallen in love with Alice. I don't know why or how, but there it is. I can't get her out of my head and want to do everything I can to make her happy. It kills me to see her as angry as she is. She's in a rage almost all the time. That hurts me in a way you can't even imagine. So don't _you dare_ tell me what I have a right to do."

Quan saw the large warehouse up ahead. "Hold onto something." She said, sternly as she turned off the road and headed toward the massive white warehouse. She shifted gears and floored it.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Talia asked.

"God damn right I am." Quan said.

"How do you know this is the right warehouse?"

"Look at the rest of them. They all have windows." Quan pointed to the one she was hurtling toward. "This one doesn't."

"If that's where they have her, you could kill her by driving through there." Talia said, putting her feet on the dashboard.

"Chance I'm willin' to take." Quan said. She braced for impact as the Chevrolet bounced across the grass and dirt. She pushed herself back in her seat.

The impact was terrible. The white corrugated metal was no match for the heavy steel push-bumper of the diesel powered juggernaut. The wall shredded in a squealing hellish cacophony. The truck skidded to a stop inside the structure. Light poured in from the hole they'd made.

Quan immediately stepped out of the truck, looking about. The warehouse was completely empty. "What the fuck?" She snapped. "Where the fuck is she?"

Talia climbed out of the truck and began walking about the enclosure. She looked around on the floor and stopped when she saw what she was looking for. "Here." She said, pointing. "There's a door in the floor."

Quan ran over and knelt, inspecting it. She gave it a pull. "It's locked."

"I know an incantation…" She stopped when Quan drove her fist down into the middle of the portal, blasting the stone to gravel. "Or you could just use your freakish strength to smash it in."

A set of stairs descended into the darkness below. Talia pulled her repeating crossbow from her back and cocked it. "You first."

Quan nodded and trotted down the stairs without fear. She mentally called to the front the magical energy contained within the mystical tattoos that graced her enormous frame. She had a feeling that she'd need everything they could give her.

The darkness permeated everything. Quan could see in the dark just fine, thanks to one of her many enchantments. "Can you see anything?" She asked Talia. Her question was answered as a flashlight clicked on. "That answers that."

The wound their way down a long hallway. Doors were to the right and left of them. They each had small windows inset. Quan quickly checked each one. They all seemed to be bedrooms. Each was tastefully appointed.

"Wait." Talia said, putting hand up to stop the big girl from moving. "I hear something."

Quan strained to hear. "Sounds like…fighting."

"It's coming from there." Talia said, pointing to the end of the hallway. The pair quickened their pace. They rounded a corner and ran smack into a group of three vampires. The huge woman wrapped her massive hand about the first vampire's head and smashed it into the wall, crushing his skull like an overripe cantaloupe under the tire of a semi. He was immediately dusted. The other two vamps came at her, only to explode into a fine ashen powder as two crossbow bolts sailed past her and into the demon's hearts.

At the end of the corridor, there was a large metal door. Quan ran at it full speed. "You don't know what's in there!" Talia shouted, trying to match her stride.

Quan wasn't listening. She hit the door with her shoulder. It blasted off of it's moorings and flew away in a twisted mass. She came to a stop in the middle of a large chain link cage with a razor wire ceiling.

The three occupants of the ersatz fighting arena stared at her wide eyed. Neo leaned against the wall of the cage, blood dripping from a massive wound across her abdomen. Her right arm hung limp at her side. She was breathing heavily and barely conscious. "Took…your sweet…time." She offered with a smile.

With her in the cage were two female vampires. Both of which were armed with katana swords. Their initial shock worn off, they came at Quan fast and hard. She moved and ducked with an almost serpentine grace. "Talia. Get Neo out of here. I got these two."

"Not…leaving you…to fight alone." Neo growled. She wanted desperately to help her friend, but knew she couldn't. Without the swords, she could have taken them both. But with the blades, they were just too damn good.

The Watcher ran to the potential. "Come on, Alice. Your time here is done."

"Just tape me up." Neo said, pointing to her stomach. "Please, Talia. I can't let Quan fight these fuckers alone."

Talia sighed and shook her head. "You've got a death wish." Wanting to be prepared in case they found Alice hurt, she'd packed a few things among her assault vest that would be useful to bandage the girl, should she need it. She lifted the teen's shirt and placed the gauze over the wound. "Hold this." She said. Blood started soaking it immediately. She took a tube of _cyanoacrylate out and pulled the padding away. _

_"Come on, Talia." Neo said, her voice slurred. _

_"Be lucky I'm doing this for you at all, you brainless twat." The Watcher growled. She squeezed a generous amount of the adhesive on the skin and used her fingers to press the wound closed, bit by bit. "This is going to pull and hurt like the blazes…" She looked up at Neo. "But I'm guessing you don't care about that." She then put more gauze over it and used the tape to secure it around her waist. _

_Quan, meanwhile was holding her own. She planted a huge foot into one of the vampire's chests while snatching her blade from her hand as she flew backward into the cage wall. The entire structure shifted under the impact. She spun the blade in her hand. The second vampire came on strong. The pair met with their blades clashing. Sparks flew as they collided. _

_"You won't beat me, girl." The vampire said, in broken English. "I have been killing your kind since before your country was even founded." _

_"Yeah, I've heard that before." Quan said. She worked the blade beautifully. "But I know something you don't." _

_"What is that?" The vampire asked. _

_"The girl that's behind you." Quan said. "And how incredibly pissed off she is." _

_The vampire did exactly as Quan expected. She cast a quick backward glance, believing herself to be fast enough to defeat any attack that the big woman could mount. She was wrong. She felt the slight pain in her neck…and saw her world become skewed as her head rolled from her shoulders to bounce along the ground. She was dust a second later. _

_The vampire Quan had put the boot to rose to her feet and came at her, a long knife in her hand. _

_Neo nodded as Talia finished bandaging her stomach. "Now I need you to pop my shoulder back into place." _

_Talia shook her head and stepped around the girl's right side. "You fought like hell today, didn't you?" _

_"Had to." The girl said. She closed her eyes and nodded. Talia pulled, causing the joint to crack loudly. _

_"Christ!" Neo shouted. "Fuck, that hurts." _

_"Here." Talia said, offering her a pair of pills. "Chew these up and swallow them." _

_"What are they?" Neo asked, taking them into her mouth. She did as the woman suggested. _

_"A homeopathic pain killer of my own making. It's fast acting and will dull the pain you are feeling." _

_Neo nodded. "Nice." She immediately started feeling stronger. "God damn, Talia. What's in this?" _

_"You don't want to know. The side effect is that you'll sleep for about two days after." _

_"That's then, this is now." Neo said. She was still stiff as hell, but she had a second wind. _

_Quan tossed the sword aside and met the woman fist to knife. As the vampire came around with the blade to stab her, the bigger fighter caught her wrist and broke the vampire's arm across her elbow. The undead beast dropped her blade to the floor. Quan then beat the vampire into the concrete. Each strike her fist caused the room to shudder. _

_Neo snatched up the sword and moved to the doorway. She knew more were coming. And she wasn't going to leave until she took _Părintele Noapte's head.

Talia wasn't happy. Not one damn bit. Neo might have been up and moving like she was right as rain, but the truth was far different. She'd lost a lot of blood and had broken bones and internal bleeding. The potential was dying slowly. She needed a hospital. But she also understood that Neo wasn't ready to give it up and run just yet. She still drew breath. That meant she was going to finish what they started at the motel. Come hell or high water.

So she hoisted her crossbow and took position in the hallway next to Neo. "You're crazy, you know that?"

Neo chuckled. "Yeah, I know." She readied the katana. The sound of boots on the concrete told them that they were in for a long day.

Quan took hold of the vampire's neck and lifted her from the ground. "Tell me where your master is and I'll kill you quickly."

"Fuck you." The vampire said, through bloody, bruised lips.

The huge martial artist began squeezing. "Tell me."

"Drop dead."

"You first." Quan said, crushing her neck like a fist full of grapes. She threw the vampire down and jumped, landing with her boot on the demon's skull. The vamp dusted as her foot met the floor. She walked over and pushed past Neo and Talia. "We're leaving."

"There's a hell of a lot of vampires coming this way." Neo said.

"Good." Quan growled. "You've been fighting all day. I'm not letting you fight anymore."

"I can handle…"

"YOU'LL FUCKING DIE, NEO!" Quan screamed, whirling on her. "Look at her." She said, pointing to Talia. Neo stared at Quan a moment. "I said look at her!"

Neo turned to regard Talia. The woman was deliberately not looking back. She was busying herself with her crossbow. She had tears in her eyes, but said nothing. Neo's heart was suddenly heavy as she watched her. "God fucking dammit!" She said, angrily. "Fuck you, Quan." She said. "You know what? Fine. Go be a fucking hero you inked up fucking piss-monkey."

Quan knew she'd won. "I'm plowing the road. You've had your fun."

"You going full tilt?" Neo asked. "You know what's gonna happen if you do."

"We need to get out of here." Quan said. "Cerri's got some of the elixir left."

Talia leaned over to Neo. "What are you talking about?"

"Quan has magical tattoos. Some make her stronger, some faster, others make her more durable. She has to be careful, though. She can control how much juice each tat gives her. But it all draws on her inner strength. The more she uses, the more it drains her. To get us out of here, she has to go full hulk. At those levels, she's faster than Lexi, as durable as Max and as strong as Steele. But if costs her. It could kill her if she goes long enough. Her limit is about ten minutes. Any more than that and she runs the risk of dying. As it is, even going that hard is gonna put her in a coma for about two, maybe three days."

"What is this elixir she was talking about?" Talia asked.

"It helps replenish her chi, for lack of better term." Neo returned. "Here they come. Watch this, babe. Gonna be Unicron attacking Cybetron up in here."

"You are such a geek." Talia said, shaking her head. But the girl was right.

The vampires could only come two at a time. Quan growled like an enraged beast. She took hold of the first vampire's head, and like before, smashed it against the wall. The next demon was caught with a boot and hammered him into the floor. The tunnel shook and dust fell from the ceiling as she stomped his head into paste. Two more came on. She spun kicked one of their heads completely from his shoulders. The other suffered a horrible fate as she took hold of his jaw and tore it clean off and jammed the end into his eye. He shrieked and backed away, blocking the other's from coming on.

Those behind him shoved him to the floor, eager to carry out the will of their master. They saw a human girl, sizable yes, but human. But they soon learned that, though she appeared to be normal, she was capable of truly abnormal feats. She crushed and beat down demon after demon. She stepped past the mangled lumps, leaving Neo and Talia to stake and end them.

Quan could feel the terrible strain that going balls out put on her. They made the stairwell and ran up to get to the truck. She crested the stairwell and caught metal across the teeth. She spun to the floor, dazed. No longer able to concentrate on the magic that permeated her, she lay there, unable to focus or move.

Neo pushed Talia back down the stairs and ran the rest of the way up, the katana in her hand. The Watcher tumbled to the floor. The crossbow clattered to the stone. One of the arms broke against the concrete. Neo leapt the last few stairs, swinging the blade to the right as she did so, forcing whoever was there to step back. She stood over Quan, her sword at the ready.

He was pretty. That was the only way she could really describe him. His black hair framed his elegant effeminate face. His lips were the kind that women who read romance novels dreamt of. His eyes were a perfect ocean blue. He was draped in a silk shirt with black leather pants and polished boots. In his hand he held a beautiful basket hilt rapier. "Finally, we meet face to face, Neo."

"Părintele Noapte." Neo said, smiling. "I'll admit one thing. You're the prettiest man I've ever seen."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said in a smooth voice.

"It wasn't." She said, spinning the blade in her hand. "Do we sword fight now or something?"

"No." He said, chuckling. "I kill you now."

"I've heard that before." She said, with a grin. "Bring it on, hoss."

"You are fatigued. You've lost a lot of blood and are fighting just to remain standing." He said, moving toward her.

"You're right. That makes us even." She said, lunging at him. He deftly blocked her strike and slashed her across the forearm as she stepped past. She staggered and looked at her arm. The cut was deep and bleeding badly. "Nice shot."

"You are slow and undisciplined with the blade. You have no chance. I have been doing this since before you were born." He said to her.

"You gonna talk, or fight?" She asked him. She stepped in again, this time with a bit more caution. She was tired as could be. He was fresh and moved like greased lightning. She fended off a few of his strikes, but inevitably some found their way through. She didn't have a hope in hell. It was proven when he stepped behind her and slashed across the back of her leg, hamstringing her. She fell to the ground and dropped the blade.

He kicked it aside and touched her throat with his rapier. "You have lost."

"Yeah. You're good, pal. Damn good. If I were fresh and ready for the dance, it might have been different. But you forgot something."

"And what is that?" He asked her.

She punched him in the balls, doubling him over. "You're in fucking America, asshole. We fight dirty here." She managed to get her good leg under her and lunged, spearing him to the ground. She tried to pummel him into the floor, but she underestimated his strength.

He gripped her hair and pulled her off of him, throwing her to the side. She was dazed now. She wanted to rise, but her body was through listening to her. "Fuck me." She said, tears in her eyes. "I sure as fuck didn't want it to end like this."

Părintele got to his feet and lifted his sword. "And now the great Neo Knight dies." He drew back and struck, looking to take her head. His sword descended, before halting with a ring of steel. He slowly turned to see Talia, Neo's Watcher, holding the katana in her hands.

"I don't think so." The woman said, forcing him back. "Now that you're through toying with children, perhaps you be keen on trying your luck with a woman." She held the sword firmly before her.

"If the powerhouse and the potential have fallen, what chance do you think you'll have?" He said, pointing his blade at her.

"Come forward and find out." Talia said.

Come forward he did. His smaller blade moved rapidly. But Talia was by no means a stranger to bladed combat. She deflected his weapon at every turn. "Not bad." He said. "For a human. But you will inevitably tire."

"No doubt." Talia said, smiling. "But I don't have to hold out forever."

"No, I dare say this fight will be over long before that point." He went at her again.

She gave him ground, making him chase her. She knew that he was faster and stronger than she was, but she had literally decades of training on her side. She'd been studying the sword since she was a toddler. She was taught fencing by one of the greatest French masters. She learned Kendo from the Japanese, and even Wushu in China. She was able to hold her own quite well. She defeated every attack her threw at her. "You give ground."

"Only a fool attempts to force an opening." Talia said. "Every novice student learns that their first day."

He let fly with an intricate ballet of strikes. His speed was almost imperceptible to the human eye. And he was angered when this _woman_ parried them all. "How are you doing this?" He asked, rage filling his voice. "You are human."

"And I bet that just pisses you off, doesn't it?" Talia said to him. "That a typical woman like me is so thoroughly making a fool out of you." She suddenly felt a vibration against her leg. She began moving slowly back toward the truck. "You want nothing more than to gut me and make an example out of me, don't you?"

He followed her eagerly. "I plan to do that and more, bitch." He snapped.

She moved around to the back of the Chevy. The huge opening was to her left. "Then do it. If you can." She stood ready for him. "I am tired of running."

"At last. Something we can agree on." He took a step toward her…and stopped as two thunderclaps sounded from outside at the same moment. His leading leg was blown off at the knee while his sword arm was severed at the elbow. He screamed and fell to the floor, blood spraying onto the stone.

Talia moved over and knelt beside him. "I forgot to tell you." She smiled at him. "You fuck with one member of Demon Queller…" Sadiira and Nadiira stepped into the building, each holding a massive Barrett M107 .50 caliber sniper rifle.

"You fuck with all of us." Nadiira said as they both took aim at his head and pulled the triggers. The vampire's skull disappeared in a hail of crimson vapor. The shots left pock marks in the concrete the size of a grapefruit.

The three of them loaded Quan and Neo up and took off, heading for the Tillamook Regional Medical Center.

The doctors looked Quan over and found her to be none the worse for wear. She had a rather nasty bruise on her cheek where Părintele Noapte busted her across the face with his sword hilt, but that was all. She was cleared after about an hour.

Neo, on the other hand was a mess. She had three broken ribs, a bruised lung, bruised cheekbone, torn ligaments in her right shoulder, a broken finger and a host of cuts that would need stitches. The wound on her abdomen had to be reopened to repair an artery that was bleeding into her stomach. The doctors were surprised to hear that all of this happened just a few hours ago. Apparently, from what they said, the wounds looked days old, meaning that she healed quite fast.

After she got out of surgery, the girls were able to visit. She thanked everyone for coming to save her. Finally, they'd all left to go home and rest. Talia stayed behind.

Neo stared at her long and hard and finally spoke. "It isn't going to get any easier, you know." Talia cocked her head in confusion. "Seeing me like this. This isn't the first time I've been in the hospital. It sure as shit won't be the last."

"I know." Talia said. "It's a pipe dream and I am well aware of the fact." She took Neo's hand. "Do I wish you would be more careful and take less risks? Absolutely. But I can't change who you are. This…" She motioned to the girl's body. "This is what you are. What you will always be. And settings like this will be a part of that. You'll be beaten and broken, but you will never let that stop you." She sighed. "You'll never let your love of me, or my love for you stop you."

"I want to. I'm not fuckin' with you, baby. I want to. I wanna give this shit up for you." Neo said. "You know why I don't?"

"Because you enjoy it too much."

"No." Neo said. "I don't because this isn't just who I am." She lifted the woman's hand clenched in hers. "It's who _we_ are. You're a Watcher. You became one because you wanted to make a difference. You wanted to fight the darkness and put a boot in evil's ass. You couldn't give it up any more than I could. For each other, we both want to, but that would be denying who we were." She shook her head. "So we ain't gonna do it."

Talia smiled and leaned in kissing the girl. "Very true." She said, happily.

Neo was cleared to leave the hospital three days later. The change to the town was immediate. According to Cerri, the vampire problem had pretty much been solved. With the death of Părintele Noapte, the rest of his brood, those that weren't slaughtered at the warehouse, fled for the hills.

The girls played their concert to a capacity crowd of the High School Auditorium. The audience was a very raucous group. The girls gave an almost five hour show. It was past dark by the time they finished their blistering set. No one seemed to be bothered by the fact that Quan and Neo looked like they'd had the hell beat out of them.

After the concert, they went back to the trailer and collapsed. It had been a hellish week.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Alice strode through the fog, unsure of where she was or how she got here. She knew enough to know she was asleep and dreaming, but nothing more than that. She could count the dreams she'd had that she could actually remember on one hand. _

_ This dream, this _place_ was important, but she wasn't sure how or why. "Hello?" She shouted into the mists. "What the hell is going on?" She asked._

_ The fog began to part, revealing a baked sand-filled sea of rolling hills and scrub grass. She looked about as she crested a hill. She stood upon the rise and saw a small valley below. At the foot of the basin burned a fire. She couldn't say why but she was drawn toward it. She felt the heat upon her. She pulled at the collar of her tactical armor and wondered when she'd put it on. Last she remembered, she was laying in bed beside Talia naked. _

_ She moved closer to the fire and could feel its heat more keenly. Something about it made her angry. She wasn't a hundred percent sure why. She saw something out of the corner of her eye, atop the hills about her. She snapped her eyes to the left and saw Steele standing with her thick arms crossed over her ample chest, staring down at her for a brief moment before she faded into nothingness. She looked at the crest of the hillock in front of her to see Buffy, her arms also across her narrow chest, eyeing her. There and gone. To her right sat Faith, crouched with her arms on her knees, holding a stake in her hand, twisting the point absently against her finger. Just as with Steele and Buffy, she disappeared. Behind her, Alexia stood with her long blade across her shoulders with her arms draped over it. She looked her with a crooked smirk before she, too vanished. _

_ "What the hell is this place?" Alice said, confusion evident in her voice. _

_ "It's where she wanted you to be. To finally meet you." Kat said as she strode toward the girl out of the waves of heat rising up off the sand. She was clad in a light black dress that flitted loosely in the breeze. _

_ "Do you even own a dress?" Alice asked her. _

_ "Not one like this." Kat said as she stopped a few paces from the girl. "She picked the attire. I'm her voice." _

_ "Can't she talk?" Neo asked. "She a mute or something?" _

_ She felt the presence behind her. She fought the urge to turn around. From her periphery, she saw a figure. She was dark of skin and wore little save rags. A woman from Earth's distant history. Before any civilization. In a flash, she knew who she was looking at. The almost bestial way the woman moved, the strength rolling off of her like the heat from a fire. "The First Slayer." Neo said, her voice barely a whisper. _

_ The woman nodded. "I came before all of you. Before all of them." Kat said. The cave slayer motioned around. _

_ Neo turned to see hundreds, thousands of slayers standing, crouching, sitting atop the hills. She recognized her four friends amid the tumult. "But I'm not one of you." She said, looking back at the neander-slayer. "I don't fall in your food chain." _

_ The girl shook her head. "No." Kat offered. "But you fight. You are what I am."_

_ "What's that mean?" Neo asked. _

_Cave slayer stood and smacked her chest. She then stepped to Neo and thumped her chest. "The slayer is the spirit, the heart of the champion. It is more than just strength. All that you have inside is what makes you a slayer." _

_Neo stepped forward and slammed her hand into her own chest. "I'm not a fucking slayer. The fucks that run this clown shoes operation have their way, I never will be." _

_ Again the cave slayer shook her head. "They're not always going to have the choice."_

_ "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Neo asked. "The powers that be _told_ me that I'll never be chosen." _

_ Cave slayer shook her head and pointed. Neo turned to see the pair that spoke for the powers standing a few paces away. "We never said that you would not be called, Alice Frog." _

_ "You do not need it." Neo said, stalking toward the pair of them. "You are as strong as you need to be." She was angry now. "You two fucktards sang that song loud and clear to me." _

_ They showed no fear. "Are you not?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. "The whole of the underworld knows your name. The name of Neo holds great esteem in the darker reaches. Moreso than any slayer before or since." _

_ "Imagine how much more I could do if you two would just call me and be done with it." Neo snapped. "I'm fighting an uphill battle right now. Give me the power and I could be fighting a fair one." _

_ "As you are, you _are_ fighting a fair fight." The woman offered. "To tap you…would be to throw the realms out of balance." _

_ "You're afraid of what I would become." Neo said, despondent. _

_ Cave slayer made a grand gesture with her hands, nodding. "Lucifer himself fears what you will become." Kat said for her. The slayer pounded on her chest and made a twisting motion with her finger against her temple. "The world is not ready for you to be a slayer."_

_ "So I keep just…getting lucky?" Neo asked, her voice sorrowful. _

_ "Do not confuse luck with skill." Kat and the powers said, in unison. _

_ "It is compassion that gives you a reason to fight." She said. _

_ "It is drive that gives you the skills to win." He added. _

_ "It is the rage that gives you the strength to endure." Kat, speaking on behalf of the cave slayer, said. _

_ Neo finally thought she got it. She was a slayer…but she wasn't. Steele, Buffy, Faith and Alexia…they all _needed_ to be slayers, to have that power because they would have been killed without it. Before they were called they were just girls, just normal, run of the mill teenage girls without a care in the world; environments and circumstances notwithstanding. _

_ Without the slayer to pull them through…they would be statistics in a war few ever knew was raging. Deaths to be mourned by a few, but ignored by the world. _

_ Neo, on the other hand was different. She carried more slayer inside her than all of them combined. Every slayer that came before fought the war because they had to. Because, once called, there was no choice. The war would find them whether they liked it or not. And more often than not, it would eventually grind the slayers down and kill them, letting another rise to take her place. It was a vicious cycle that was without foreseeable end. It was something that all slayers slowly became resigned to. _

_ But for the past six years, longer than just about any slayer that she knew of or had read about, she'd been going out and actively hunting down the supernatural menace. Not just vampires, but everything. Yes, there were other hunters that did so, but none of them, from what she'd seen, did so without the use of magic, firearms and crossbows. Even Steele, widely regarded as the most powerful slayer in the mix used guns. _

_ Neo didn't. She had nothing but her fists, her feet and a complete lack of fear. She'd had to put herself through hell to be what she was. She trained herself as hard as humanly possible and it showed. But the simple fact remained that the powers that be, even the cave slayer was right. She wasn't called because it wouldn't really matter. There really wasn't much more she could do, even as a slayer, than she was doing now. _

_ The underworld feared her. Portland was quite possibly the only large city in the country that vampires and demons were _afraid _to come to. And it was all because of her. _

_ What more of an effect could she hope to have?_

_ "Slayer." Cave slayer said, touching her arm. "Slayer." She said again, this time touching her own chest. "Sisters." She offered, clasping her hands together. _

_ "Why the dream?" Neo asked. "Why come to me to tell me all of this?" _

_ "What you survived. What you did has…_concerned_ us." The powers said in unison. "You are stronger, carry more than we thought." _

_ Something dawned on Neo. "I'm…I'm not completely human am I?" _

_ The powers stared at her. "Yes." They said again in unison. "You are. And that is what concerns us most. Humans are not as strong as you. Without magic, without enchantment…you are far more than you should be." _

_ "I worked hard for what I've got." Neo said, simply. "Dad pushed me. Reggie pushed me. And when I didn't have them, I pushed myself." _

_ "You are an enigma." She said. _

_ Neo furrowed her brow. "I'm not as strong as slayer. I'm not as strong as most vampires and demons out there." _

_ "And that does not stop you." He said. "Nothing stops you. We speak for the creator. We know what he knows." _

_ They both shook their heads. "He knows naught of you." _

_ "What the hell are you saying?" Neo said. "God didn't create me?" _

_ "There have been…_others_. Those that come into being that are outside the will of the gods. Outside the will of the devils. History has shone with these individuals." _

_ "Like who?" Neo asked. _

_ "Vlad, the Impaler." She said. _

_ "Atila the Hun." He said. _

_ "Tsun Tsu." She added again. _

_ Both of them pointed to Kat. "Her." _

_ Neo looked at the tattooed fighter. "Don't look at me." Kat said. "This is the first I'm hearing of it." _

_ "If that's the case, then why make someone like me? And if I'm not God's work, then who's work am I?" _

_ "The Universe." She said. _

_ "Chaos." He offered. _

_ "It is not known." They said together._

_ "That's it!" Neo said, moving closer. "You won't call me because, despite being a potential you two really don't know what'll happen, how I'll change with that kind of power coursing through me." She smiled. "I'm an unknown quantity." She then broke out into a laugh. "You're afraid." _

_ "Scared." Cave slayer said, pointing at the pair. "Sisters." She said, touching Neo's arm again. _

_ Neo grinned brightly at her. She grabbed the dark-skinned slayer's arms and pulled her in, kissing her fiercely. She felt strong arms wrapped around her waist. _

Talia leaned against the wall of the trailer with her knees tucked up under her chin and watched Neo sleep. She sighed and smiled. She never thought she'd be here. She never thought she'd fall so head over heels for someone in such a short amount of time. It was nice, to be honest.

The week they had spent in Tillamook had been hard on all of them. They'd had a heck of impact on the town, however. The vampire problem had been dealt with very, very handily. Neo bore only a pale white scar across her abdomen and her left forearm from her time in captivity.

They now sat at the Port of Newport RV Park in a rather well appointed facility. They'd arrived just after three PM. Neo, for her part had groused and groaned immensely. From what Cerri could find, this was one of the few towns that didn't seem to have anything going on. There were no unexplained deaths or disappearances. There were no hits from the website. It was a barren town that seemed to have nothing going for it. Neo was understandably upset, but Talia truly thought the girl could use the break. There was plenty to do in the town and it would give the girls a chance to just be girls for a few days. Talia believed that after what they had just gone through, they all deserved it. Whatever was happening at the next stop could keep for week.

They were all booked and ready to go at the Newport Performing Arts Center. It was a simple four hundred person venue, but when the tickets went on sale on the website, the event had sold out in less than a day. Even at twenty dollars a pop. It was nice to see.

As she watched the girl, she could tell Neo was dreaming. Her face seemed to parade through every emotion. Anger, confusion, contentment, and finally happiness.

She girl smiled widely. Her eyes fluttered open. She turned to see Talia looking down at her. "Good morning."

"Got a few hours yet." The Watcher said to her. "What on earth were you dreaming about, do you remember?"

"You never gonna believe it." Neo said, chuckling. "I had a slayer dream."

That _did_ surprise Talia. "Really?" She'd never even heard of such a thing. "You're sure it was a slayer dream?"

"Oh yeah." Neo said, sitting up. She leaned against the head to the bed. "I don't think it was a normal slayer dream, though. Everything I've read and heard of slayer dreams, they're usually chaotic and cryptic. This shit was clear as it gets. I talked to the first slayer and the powers that be." She shook her head. "I learned a lot about myself. And about them."

"You actually spoke to the first slayer? The first slayer ever called?" Talia asked, not sure she was understanding right.

"Yeah. She was hot as hell. All…primal and shit. She was a cave-woman, I think. She didn't speak much. One word sentences most of the time. In my dream, Kat actually spoke for her." She chuckled. "Kat was wearing a dress." Talia looked at her strangely. It was obvious she didn't get the funny. "Getting Kat in a dress is about as likely as getting _me_ in a dress."

"Ah. That is rather humorous."

"That's what I thought." Neo said. She went on to explain the dream in detail to the woman.

Talia listened intently and couldn't believe what she was hearing. If what Neo was saying was accurate, there was no telling what her limits could be. "If, if you don't have any objections, I'd like to report this to the Watcher's Council."

"Why?" Neo asked her.

"I think this is something they should know. That you got contacted directly by the powers that be is nothing short of amazing. To the best of my knowledge, that's never happened."

"I suppose you could talk to 'em about it." Neo said, nodding. "Maybe they can learn something from it I didn't catch."

"That's what I'm supposing." Talia said.

The potential checked the clock. It was just before six AM. "I'm gonna grab a shower and head out to pick up breakfast. You wanna come with?"

"No. I'm going to go ahead and get in touch with Quentin and let him know what you told me."

"Fair enough." Neo shot over and pulled the woman into a kiss. "Have fun dealing with the old crust British dude. I'm gonna try and find someplace to get everyone some food."

"Bring me something good. And please, no seafood. Not this early." Talia said, softly.

"Yeah, fish don't go down well for breakfast." Neo offered before leaving the bedroom with a pair of camouflage pants, a pale blue tank top and her undergarments.

After cleaning off the smell of sex and sweat, Neo moved out, unhooked the trailer from the Chevy and climbed behind the wheel. She pulled her wallet out and looked at her finances. Unlike most of the girls, Neo hated paying for things electronically. Buying things online was fine, but when she went out, she always preferred, if the option was available to her, to pay cash. "Need to hit an ATM." She said, putting her wallet back in her pocket. She fired the rig up and looked at her watch. It was just after six thirty. She'd done a bit of looking and knew of a place south across the bridge that was open early.

She turned to the left to hit the Oregon Coast Bank ATM. Given that ninety nine point nine percent of the cash machines were inside business that weren't open yet, she didn't have a lot of options. She knew the town of Newport like the back of her hand. Her father and Reggie used to bring her here every summer. It was a great place. It had a lot of big city amenities – dozens of restaurants, attractions and museums – but maintained its small town charm.

She pulled off of SE Bay Boulevard and into the parking lot. She parked next to a small Toyota Prius. She could see a pair of elderly women talking to each other in the front seats of the car. She stepped out of the rig and moved up to the ATM. She whipped out the S3 dot com debit card and pulled out two hundred dollars. She counted it out and stuffed it into her pocket and snatched her receipt. She pushed it into the trash receptacle on the machine and turned, nearly slamming into the pair of women. "Oh, shit. Excuse me." She said, stepping past them. She had to admit, they were cuter than hell. She figured they had to be at least seventy plus.

"Oh that's alright, sweetie." One of them said, smiling at her. "Didn't mean to crowd you. Have a good day."

"You too." Neo said, heading back to her truck. She pulled open the door and stopped when she saw a boy, maybe her age, if not a little older move up to the AMT. She watched him for a moment. He sidled up to stand behind the pair of ladies. She slowly closed the door of the truck and waited. She knew she was just being paranoid, but she really didn't want to have it on her conscience if this asshole was intending to…

He pulled a small black semi-automatic pistol from his pocket. "Turn around and hand me the cash." He said, his voice hushed.

"Mother fucker." Neo said, storming up to him. "Hey!" She snapped, angrily. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

The pair of women immediately grabbed onto each other, terrified. The boy with the gun turned around, pointing it at Neo. "Take one more step and I'll blow your fuckin' brains out."

She didn't stop walking. "Fuck you, you sack of monkey shit." She said. "You ain't got the balls god gave a Chihuahua." She stopped a pace from him. "Well?" She said, holding her arms out wide. "You gonna fuckin' shoot or what?" She looked past him to the ladies. "You two can go."

"No they can't." He said. "You move and I'll…" He never got the statement out.

Neo quickly and brutally gripped his wrist with her right arm and drove her left palm into his elbow. His arm broke with a wet snap. He screamed and dropped the gun. "Fuckin' pussy." She looked at the ladies. "You two have a nice day now. I've got this."

"Th-th-thank you." One said as they trotted off and climbed into the little Toyota.

She turned her attention back to the thug. "Now where were we?" She asked. "Oh, right. I was just preppin' to whoop your ass." She kicked him in back of the legs, dropping him hard onto his back. He clutched his broken arm, crying. "You done fucked up, pal. I'm stuck in this town for the next week and you know what? There aren't any fuckin' vampires here. Not a one." She reached down and gripped his throat, lifting him from the ground. She stared into his eyes. "That means I gonna take out all that aggression on your ass." She spun and threw him into the front of the Chevy. His back collided with the push bumper and slid to the ground. He let out a piteous whine. She stalked into him, cracking her knuckles.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a butterfly knife. She quickly flipped it open and lunged at her. The knife buried itself in her stomach, just below her scar. "Ouch!" She shouted. She gripped his hand and pulled the blade free. "That fuckin' hurt!" She dropped the knife to the ground. "You can't have nice things." She drove her knee into his gut a half a dozen times, then heaved him up over her head and threw him into the back of her truck. She used a napkin and collected the knife and the gun, holding it by the barrel.

She fired the rig up and sped out of the parking lot, heading toward the police department. "Mother fucker." She said a she looked down at the wound on her side. "Fuckin' pisses me off." She reached over pushed in the cigarette lighter. She made sure he was still in the back. The lighter clicked and she pulled it free, lifted the edge of her shirt and pressed the red hot metal against her skin, searing it to stop the bleeding. The cut wasn't fatal, but it was deep and could be an issue if it kept bleeding out like it was. The pain was indescribable, but she endured it in silence. She had to repeat it twice more to make sure it was properly cauterized. Talia was going to pitch a bitch, but she couldn't do anything about it.

She pulled up to the station and smiled when she saw the Prius from the bank sitting in the lot. "Nice." She got out, taking the gun with her. She stepped around, dropped the tailgate and grabbed the mugger's foot. She dragged him out of the truck, letting him smack onto the concrete. She released him, closed the gate and gripped him by his throat, hefting him from the dirt. He was so out of it, he didn't resist.

She carried him into the station house proper. The old women were standing at the counter filling out paperwork. They both turned to her. "That's him, officer." One of them said. "She saved us from getting mugged."

Neo moved up, dropping him to the ground. She set the weapons on the counter. "He threatened all of us with this gun. I made sure and only touched the barrel. And the fucker stabbed me with this knife."

"He stabbed you?" The man behind the desk asked. "Where?"

"In the stomach." Neo said. She backed away and lifted her shirt. "Right here." She said, pointing. "Fucker went in deep."

"What did you do?" He asked, curiously. The women both turned to look.

"I had to cauterize it with the lighter in my truck. I didn't want that shit bleeding all over the interior. Blood's a pain in the ass to get out of upholstery."

"You cauterized your own wound?" He asked as he moved around the counter to handcuff the moaning man on the floor.

"Well, yeah. Wouldn't you?"

"No!" He snapped, lifting the thug and setting him on the bench against the wall. "They have hospitals for that."

"Or I could just do this and save myself a few grand." Neo said. "I need to file a report."

"What happened to him?" The man asked, pulling out more papers.

"He pointed a gun at me and threatened to shoot me so I beat the shit out of him." Neo said, as she began filling her forms out. "Fucker's lucky I didn't kill him." She turned and looked at him. "Real lucky."

"Have you done that before?" The cop asked. "Kill people?"

"Keep in mind, I'm under age, so anything I admit to you without a child advocate present doesn't mean shit and can't be used, right?"

"How old are you?" He asked.

"Seventeen." She returned.

"You can be tried as an adult. Are you emancipated?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because if you're emancipated and seventeen, then you're legally an adult in the state of Oregon. I think it's all states, actually."

"Good to know." Neo said, going back to her work.

"So have you?"

"Yeah. But I'm clinically insane, so good luck making any of it stick. Besides, with my connections, one phone call and you couldn't arrest me if you wanted to." Neo offered. "But relax, Hoss. I'm not some cold blooded killer. Case in point, this ass-hat fuckin' stabbed me. I would have been well within my rights to rip his head off and shit down his neck. Not a court in the country would convict me."

"You're probably right." He waited patiently. "I do want you to talk to our detective. Just to explain some things."

"That's cool." Neo said, pulling her cell out. She dialed Talia since she knew the woman was awake.

"Alice? Are you on your way back?" She asked.

"No. I'm gonna be held up at the police station for a while. Some fuck-nugget tried mugging a couple of old chicks and I beat his ass. He stabbed me, though."

"Are you alright?" Talia asked, concern in her voice.

"Yeah. It wasn't bad. I broke his shit and ran him in. I'm filling out the report now and I gotta talk to a detective after little bit. I'm probably not gonna be back for a while. I haven't gone the restaurant yet."

"Do I need to call anyone?"

"Nah. Not right now." Neo said. "I'll be okay, I think. If I get arrested for any reason, you'll be my first phone call."

"Alright. Be careful." Talia said. "Love you." She added, softly.

"Oh, we're at that stage now, are we?" Neo asked, smiling.

"I'd like to think so." Talia said, her voice sheepish.

"Fine. I love you, too." Neo said. "I'll see you when I get home." She ended the call and stuffed her phone back in her pocket.

"Thank you for what you did." The lady that had been speaking most of the time offered to her. "Most people wouldn't have bothered."

"I'm not most people." Neo said. She looked at the pair. "You two on a girls weekend or something?"

"A romantic getaway." The other said, grasping her partner's hand. "We've been together for thirty years."

Neo held out her fist. "Right on." The pair hesitated a moment before bumping it with their own. "I'm bisexual myself. You married?"

"Never saw the point. We know we love each other. We don't need a piece of paper that says so."

"You go, girl." Neo said, happily. After she'd finished her paperwork, she was led into the back of the station.

The officer opened a door and motioned her inside. "A detective will be in to speak with you shortly."

"Cool." Neo said. As he left, she took in the room. It was small, but well appointed. The table that dominated was sturdy and simple. The chairs were large and comfortable. A water cooler sat in the corner with small paper cups atop it. She took one and filled it as she continued to look around. Windows adorned two walls letting in a bit of natural light. A door sat on the opposite wall of the one she entered. Beside the door sat a rolling cart with a television that had a built in VHS/DVD player.

She took a seat and waited. She pulled her phone out and began surfing the internet. She was in the room for almost a half an hour before the door opened. She turned her phone off and looked up.

The woman was tall. Taller even than her and she stood a solid five ten in her bare feet. She was, however incredibly slender, but wasn't what you would call skinny. She had a runner's build. Her hair hung down her shoulders in a bright crimson wave and her eyes were a very piercing green. Her face was rather strong, but had the look of someone that cleaned up well. As it sat, the woman obviously gave two shits about how she looked. She was at work. She had to compete with the men and you couldn't do that wearing half of the L'Oreal lineup. The gray suit jacket and slacks hung on her very well. Her badge was hanging around her neck on a chain-lanyard. Her gun, a simple Glock 9mm rested under her left arm. She also carried a file folder in her left hand.

She scooted the chair out and sat down opposite Neo. She opened the file folder and looked at some of the still shots. Neo could tell they were snapshots from the ATM camera. Everything she'd done was captured on video. She smiled and leaned back.

"I'm Detective Mason." The woman said. "Do you take drugs, Miss Frog?" The woman asked her.

"Seriously?" Neo asked her back. "Are you seriously asking me if I take drugs?"

Mason lifted her eyes and bore into Neo. "Yes. I seriously asked you if you take narcotics." She tapped the photos. "A girl your size shouldn't be able to do this. Unless you're on something. You nearly killed this man."

"Don't call him that." Neo said, her tone gaining just as much edge. "He's not a man. He's a piece of shit. Address him as such."

"He's a human being, Miss Frog."

"That's debatable." She said back.

"Do you think this is a game? You're looking at serious jail time if he presses charges. We've got it on tape you beating this man nearly to death."

"I'll never see the inside of jail cell, Detective." Neo said simply. "One look at my psych profile and the worst I'd ever face is a one bunk Hilton at a minimum security nut hatch. I'd be spending my days shooting pool and fuckin' crazy nymphos."

"You seem pretty certain of that."

"Do your homework, lady." Neo said. "But I won't even see that much. That asshole even tries to press charges, he'd come up missing and no one would ever find him again."

"You saying you'd have him killed before he could make his statement?"

"I don't know, am I?" Neo said. "This is the bottom line, cop. That shit-cock tried mugging two old ladies. I kicked the shit out of him for it. Then he stabbed me. I kicked the shit out of him for that. Way I see it, his ass got off light. I could have done a lot more to him than I did."

"Despite what you may wanna believe, Miss Frog…"

"Alice or Neo. I hate being called Miss Frog."

The woman repeated herself. "Despite what you may wanna believe, _Miss Frog_…" She said again.

Neo glared. "Say it again." She said, leaning forward. "Say Miss Frog one more time and you'll spent the rest of your short ass life staring at pieces of yourself. And don't think for a fucking second, that gun frightens me, bitch. I'd have my hands around your neck before you even cleared leather."

"Threatening an officer of the law is a serious crime, little girl."

"Pissing me off a whole lot worse, Red. You call me Neo or Alice. I don't care which. But you call me Miss Frog one more fucking time and we're gonna dance, you understand me?"

The woman swallowed. "Fine. _Alice_. As I was saying, even men like him have rights."

"In your world, sister. Not mine." Neo said. "Far as I'm concerned he's just another demon preying on fear and pain. I make my day fighting things like him."

"Demons?" The woman asked, incredulously. "You fight demons?"

"You…you really don't know who I am, do you?" Neo asked her, raising an eyebrow.

Mason began reading from some of the papers in the file folder. "Alice Frog born…"

"Yeah, yeah. That's great. You saw my facebook page." Neo said. "But you have no idea _who_ I am, do you?"

"Fine. Who are you, Miss…" She saw the warning in Neo's eyes and caught herself. "Who are you, Alice?"

"You ever visit S3 dot com?" Neo asked. "Go ahead, I'll wait."

The woman sighed and pulled her smart phone out. She dialed up the site and spent a couple of minutes navigating. It didn't take her long to realize that she was trapped in a very small room with a very, _very_ dangerous girl.

Neo watched her reaction and grinned. "Do I have your attention now, Detective Mason?"

"Who are you?" She asked, this time her voice was fearful.

"I'm the fucking Boogeyman's Boogeyman, Detective. I'm the shit that all of that?" She pointed to the phone. "Is afraid of. I scare the bad things so they leave the little children alone. Are there monsters in your closet, Detective? Beasts under your bed?" The woman shook her head, swallowing. "You know why? It isn't because you refuse to believe in them. They're gonna come for you whether you do or not. That's not why. There aren't any there because just as they're about to step out of the wardrobe to devour you, just as they're about to reach out and grab your hand and drag you down into the dank shit filled abyss of the underworld to strip your meat from your bones…" She grinned at the terror in the woman's eyes. "My ass puts them in the fuckin' ground before they get a chance."

She stared into Neo's eyes, looked deep, deeper than she wanted to…and found that the girl wasn't lying. One of the things that made Detective Mason such a good Detective was what her colleagues called her 'bullshit meter'. She had instincts that were spot on. If her gut told her something, she went with it. Because for almost thirty five years of life, she'd never been wrong. But now she was put to the ultimate test. Logic, knowledge of the physical world told her that the girl's story _had_ to be bullshit. It simply couldn't be true. And yet, the truth was staring her straight in the face. She had this girl, Alice Frog, native of Portland Oregon, singer of an all girl rock band, had thrown a two hundred pound man around like a bag of potatoes. "There's… there's no such thing as monsters." The woman said.

Neo chuckled. "That's right. There isn't. It's gotta be a trick of light. It's gotta be makeup, or, or a joke. Yeah, it's just a prank. College kids and street punks with aspirations of being the next Screaming Mad George." She leaned forward again. "That's what everyone tells themselves right up until they see their intestines slap out onto the asphalt. Or just before the hot guy or sexy woman they're with takes a hearty bite out of their necks. And you know what? Whether you wanna buy it or not, I'll still be there to save your ass. Because that's what I do. Just be prepared to get a lip lock that's gonna make you weak in the knees." She paused a moment. "Am I under arrest?"

"Well, no…"

"Then I'm outta here." Neo said. "It's been real, Detective." She gave a smile. "Whether you wanna believe it or not."

The woman was left staring after the girl. She should have stopped her. Told her that there were more questions she needed answers to, but for some reason, she stayed seated. She was just glad to get young Alice out of her presence. She leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. It was then she noticed…she was sweating. It was only seventy degrees in the room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Just wanted to let my loyal readers know that I'm going to be starting school on Monday (02-16-2015) and will be going full time for about two and a half weeks. So updates are going to be coming a bit more infrequently than they have been. But it's just for a short period of time. I've got a couple of backup chapters written to post in the mean time. Thanks for your patience.

And as always, read, review and enjoy.

**Chapter 10**

Cerri sat behind her laptop bouncing in her seat. She was excited as could be. She saw that it was just after nine in the morning. The twins were both moving about cleaning the trailer and doing dishes. Neo and Talia were both still asleep in the back. Neither of them had gotten to sleep until well after four in the morning.

Quan stepped out of the shower, running her towel over her head. Her large muscle bound frame glistened with in the morning light. Cerri watched her and sighed heavily. She couldn't help but smile every time she looked upon the love of her life. Quan tossed the towel into the hamper and knelt beside her giant duffel. She decided on a charcoal gray tank top and a pair of black cargo pants. She sat down next to the girl and pulled on her socks and her boots. "You're antsy as hell." Quan said, smiling.

Cerri got to her knees and threw her arms around her girlfriend from behind. "You're taking me to the aquarium."

"All the years you've lived in Oregon and you've never gone." She shook her head. "I can't believe that."

"Mom could never afford it. Neither could we." Cerri offered, sadly.

Quan finished up and turned, hugging the smaller girl. "I'm sorry, baby." She said, holding Cerri tight. "You all ready to go?" Cerri nodded.

"I'll see you guys later." Quan said as she got up and slid her wallet into her pocket. She snatched the keys of the Ford off the counter.

"Drive safe. Have fun." Sadiira said. Nadiira waved at them as they stepped out of the trailer.

They climbed into the rig and were off. "Did you wanna grab breakfast before we go?" Quan asked.

"I already ate, but you can stop and get something if you like." Cerri offered, scrolling through the imagery on her phone.

"What are you looking at, anyway?" Quan asked as she cruised along SW Bay Blvd.

"Well, they're only open from ten to five." Cerri said. "I wanna plan everything out so I can see everything."

Quan chuckled. It was a very Cerri thing to say. "We'll have plenty of time." She pulled off the road and into a small coffee shack drive through. She waited in line behind a massive matte black Buick. She looked at the tail end and nodded. "Nice. '70 Deuce and a quarter. Sounds good, too." She looked at Cerri. "Bet you a hundred bucks an old dude owns it."

The younger girl looked up and squinted. "Nope. Young guy." She went back to her phone.

"How the hell can you see that? You wear glasses." Quan asked, likewise squinting.

"Because no self respecting pensioner is gonna wear his hat sidewise like that." Cerri said. "Guy looks like a fucking idiot."

Quan looked at her and again peered ahead. The car was loaded with people, but she could see the driver was indeed wearing his hat off to the side. Old people didn't do that. "Wonder if his granddad knows he stole his car."

Cerri chuckled and shook her head. "Despite what you may wanna believe, cars like that are making a huge comeback. Have been for a few years now." She turned to looked at Quan. "The era of the Fast and the Furious style rice rockets are over. With the big three putting the iconic Detroit Iron back into the public consciousness, real gearheads don't have to go overseas to get there horsepower fixes. Dodge sells the Challenger and the Charger with four hundred and seventy horse Hemis. You can get a Camaro with five hundred ponies. The Mustang is offering something like six hundred. Previous to that, the best you could hope for from the US, a few very exclusive options aside was the Corvette and Viper. And even then, it wasn't anything close to what it is now."

"You've really been studying up, haven't you?" Quan asked as the big Buick pulled away.

"I gotta be able to keep up my end of the conversation with you, don't I?" The girl asked her.

Quan chuckled. "You want anything?"

"I wouldn't mind a hot chocolate. Ask if they have candy canes." Cerri said.

Quan nodded and turned to the window. The girl inside offered her a bright smile. "What can I get you?"

"Gimme the biggest size double mocha latte you got. No whip cream. Just makes a mess. Also gimme a medium size hot chocolate. Do you have candy canes?"

"Um…" The girl said, looking around. "I think…yeah." She reached behind her and pulled one out. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Quan said, handing it to Cerri. "Also gimme four of those giant ass muffins behind you."

"We have lemon poppy seed, banana nut, chocolate and blueberry." The girl offered as she got their drinks made.

"Hell, gimme one of each." Quan said. "You don't happen to have like, breakfast sandwiches or anything, do you?"

"They're prefab, but we got some with bacon, ham or sausage." She shrugged. "They're not bad. Worth what we charge, but barely."

"Gimme four of the sausage." Quan said.

"You got it." She moved around the small shack, gathering the muffins and microwaving the sandwiches. Quan reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty and a ten. She soon finished and offered the big woman a small cardboard serving boat with her sandwiches inside. Quan took it and set in on the center console. She took the bag with her muffins and then took the drinks one at a time. "Your total is twenty four forty two." The girl said.

Quan handed her the bills. "Keep it." She said, nodding. "Catch you later."

"Thanks." The server returned happily. "Have a wonderful day."

They pulled away from the shack and headed off toward the aquarium. As they drove, Quan devoured her sandwiches. "These aren't bad." She said.

"They look cheap." Cerri said, looking at them. "Look like gas station food."

"Says the girl that likes Seven Eleven hot dogs." Quan shot back.

"Yeah, I know." Cerri returned. "Not really sure why, either. It isn't like they're good." She shook her head. "Jalapenos, pickles, onions and fake ass imitation cheese."

"Sounds like the ingredient list to some of the chemical weapons they used in World War One."

"You eat AMPM burgers, you know nothing." Cerri chided.

"I do love me some AMPM gut bombs. I pretty much load em' with the same shit you put on your hot dogs."

"They always tasted like they couldn't decide whether they wannabe sausage or hamburger."

"That's what I love about them. You don't really get that flavor anywhere else." Quan said, polishing off her last sandwich and taking a slug of her mocha. "They just taste good to me."

"At least you put vegetables on 'em." Cerri said. "I swear sometimes you eat worse than I do."

"I can't argue with that." Quan turned onto the bridge and raced across to the southern part of Newport. She could feel Cerri's excitement. Talia, Neo and the twins had insisted that the two of them take the day and enjoy themselves. Quan had seen the aquarium numerous times and really didn't find it as interesting as she used to. But her girl wanted to visit and that was what was important. They pulled up to the parking lot and noticed that it was already packed with cars. "Christ." Quan said, as she moved this way and that, looking for a spot.

"There!" Cerri said, pointing.

Quan gunned it and whipped into the spot, cutting off a large Lincoln Navigator. "Sorry, pops. Too slow." She said, smiling. She noticed the driver of the vehicle climbing out, obviously angry. As he closed the distance, she stepped out and looked at him. He was barely up to her chin and was a bit on the skinny side. "Something I can do for you, fella?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He immediately turned around and got back into his SUV and sought parking elsewhere. She nodded and turned to Cerri. "You ready, sweetie?" Quan asked, offering her hand.

Cerri took it, nodding. "This is gonna be fun." She looked around at all the people and sighed. "There's a lot of people her for it being a Monday."

"Well, there ain't but three things to see in this town. The parks, the Marine Science Center and this place." Quan said. "Other than that, it's the seafood restaurants."

"I suppose that's true. Can you imagine having a seafood allergy in a place like this?" Cerri asked, chuckling. "God, that would suck."

"Granddad did." Quan offered as they waited in line. "He was allergic to shellfish. Given that we spent seven years in China, that was really horrible for him."

"Oh, god." Cerri said. "Seafood is like, all they serve in China, isn't it?" Cerri asked.

"Not all, no. There's chicken, beef, goat, lamb and pork. He never really lacked for anything to eat. He just liked shellfish, but couldn't eat it on account of it would fuck him up."

"Excuse me." A woman behind the big girl said, lightly tapping her on the shoulder.

Quan turned to look down at her. She was an average height brunette with attractive eyes. She was standing with two girls, one of which was about Cerri's age and was glued to her phone, looking as though she could think of a million places she'd rather be. The other girl was possibly five, maybe six years old and looked up at her with wide eyes. It was obvious she'd never seen a woman as big as her before. The woman had to crane her neck to look up at her. Being six foot five in her boots, she was used to it. "Yeah?" She said with a smile.

"Would you possibly watch your language? There are a lot of children present. As parents, we'd like to spare them hearing that kind of thing as long as possible." The woman bit her lip, looking nervous as hell.

Quan knew that she intimidated most people. Being covered with tattoos and built like a female bodybuilder, she was largely left alone. She could tell it took a lot for the woman to even ask her such a thing. "I'm terribly sorry. I'll do my best to curb my language."

The woman gently let out the breath she was holding. "Thank you."

"You're big." The little girl said. "I bet a lot of people are scared of you."

"Nancy!" The mother said, scolding the little girl.

Quan and Cerri laughed. It was cute as hell. Quan knelt down in front of the girl. "I only scare bad people, Nancy." She offered her hand. "I'm Annabelle."

Nancy took it and smiled. "I'm Nancy. It's my birthday."

"How old are you, sweetie?" Quan asked.

"I'm six." The girl said, happily.

"Well, Happy Birthday Nancy." The big girl said, ruffling her hair. "She's a cutie." The mother smiled brightly and looked down at her daughter. Quan saw the girl's older sister just sigh and roll her eyes. "I take it you're not looking forward to this." The girl looked at her, then went back to her phone. She didn't say a word. Quan sniggered and turned back around, waiting her turn.

"You're like, the worlds friendliest biker." Cerri said, laughing.

"Well pardon me for breaking stereotypes." Quan said, tapping the girl in the back of the head.

After dropping the ticket price, Quan followed Cerri as the girl moved about snapping photos of absolutely everything with her expensive digital camera.

As she walked along, Quan kept a watchful eye on her. As they strolled Cerri lifted her camera to take a picture of the Otters – who were extremely photogenic and posing for their adoring public – a boy of maybe sixteen years ran past and snatched the girl's camera from her hands.

He didn't make it more than a half dozen paces before Quan grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him from his feet. She looked him in the eye and simply held her hand out. She didn't say a word. He slowly put the camera her hand. She nodded and dropped him to his feet. He immediately took off. She offered Cerri back her camera with a smile. The girl grinned and checked the camera over before turning and taking the pictures.

Quan just shook her head and kept moving. Cerridwen was a kid in a candy store. Quan even let her go nuts in the gift shop.

It was five minutes to five when they left, having circled the park three times to make sure they didn't miss anything. "Did you have fun?" Quan asked as they made their way to the truck.

Cerri moved over and hugged the big girl. "This was really fun. Thanks for bringing me."

"You're welcome, baby." She returned as they climbed into the Raptor. Quan pulled out of her spot and waited patiently as they left the parking lot. "I'm hungry as hell. There's a restaurant just down the road."

"The Fishtails Café." Cerri said. "It closes at three."

"Oh, what the fuck?" Quan asked, looking at her. "Who the hell closes a restaurant at three in the afternoon?"

"A stupid one?" Cerri asked, pulling out her phone. "I'll find us a place." She sifted through the options and sighed. "A lot of places that serve alcohol."

"Not old enough to drink." Quan said, easing out onto the road. "Isn't there a steakhouse or something just on the other side of the bridge?"

"Um…Yeah! Newport Steak and Seafood." She bit her lip as she read. "Reviews are pretty back and forth, though."

"Best steak I ever had was a little shit shack outside McRae, Georgia. All the Reviews said the place was a dive and had shitty portions and was overpriced."

"They were wrong?" Cerri asked.

"Paid fifteen bucks and got a sixteen ounce porterhouse, a baked potato the size of a grapefruit and a broccoli medley with lemon. Steak was cooked to perfection and they had wicked awesome steak sauce. I haven't trusted reviews since then."

"Looks like that's where we're headed." Cerri said. "It's just past the end of the bridge on Southwest Bayley."

A few minutes later, the pair pulled into the lot. "Place looks kinda quaint." Quan said as she turned the truck off. She climbed out and looked down at herself. "There isn't a dress code or anything is there?"

"Quan? It's a ramshackle brown building that has the word 'Lounge' in the name and has a big 'Lotto' sign on the wall. What do you think?" Cerri said, with a raised eyebrow. "If anything, I'd think you'll fit right in."

"Be that as it may…" The big woman said, pulling a navy blue over shirt out of the back and sliding it on. "Just in case."

"No." Cerri said, moving over and pulling the shirt off. "Stop being embarrassed about how you look."

"Not a lot of people like staring at…"

"You're not trying to impress them, now are you?" Cerri asked, throwing the shirt in the truck and closing the door. "You're my date. You're here to impress me. And I happen to like the way you look with your muscles and tats hanging out. I'd make you go topless if I thought I could get away with it." She pushed the big girl toward the restaurant. "Now let's go in and get you fed."

Quan giggled and walked along. She loved the younger girl so very much. And this was one of the many reasons why. Cerri really didn't give a shit what other people thought. They stepped inside and were immediately assailed with the smell of cooking seafood and steak. "God, it smells good in here."

Cerri nodded. "Mmhmm. This is gonna be so good."

"Remember. You can't eat salmon." Quan reminded her.

"Don't like salmon." Cerri returned. "Tastes like dirty panties."

"I thought you loved salmon." Quan said, surprised.

"No, I hate salmon. It's Neo that likes salmon." The girl shuddered. "Freak."

"Oh, that's right. _She's_ the one that's allergic." Quan said. "Pisses her off to no end because she fuckin' loves smoked salmon."

"See, smoked isn't bad. It's really good on those Totino's pizzas."

"That's just fuckin' nasty." Quan said.

They were seated and chatted while they waited for their food. Quan ordered the largest steak they had, a sixteen ounce porterhouse with mashed potatoes and gravy and a seafood sampler platter. Cerri went in for the fish and chips and a hearty bowl of clam chowder.

It was well past sunset when the pair left the restaurant. Quan left the server a ten dollar tip. The woman had seen to them very well, making sure that their glasses were kept full and just letting them know that they weren't forgotten.

"See why I don't trust reviews?" Quan asked as they made their way out to the rig.

"Fair point." Cerri said. "We should probably stop and pick something up for the others."

Quan looked down at the fuel gauge. "Gotta get gas, anyway."

"There's a Chevron over there. Looks like it's got a deli and shit attached." Cerri said, pointing.

"That'll work." Quan said, turning toward the station. She pulled up to the pump and climbed out. The pump attendant came out and smiled at her. "Fill it up." She said as she made her way past. She fell in beside Cerri. She looked to the side and pointed as a car drove up. "Check it out."

The younger girl turned and looked. "Is that the same Buick from this morning?"

"I think so." Quan said. "Can't see there being more than one in a town like this." They entered the deli to see a man in his mid fifties behind the counter, leaning on it lazily. The girls walked over to the deli case.

Four boys made their way in, talking loudly to each other. Quan gave them all a cursory look. They couldn't have been more stereotypical 'street' if they tried. Two of them were sporting baseball caps tilted sideways off their head. The other two had do-rags covering their heads. All four of them were as pale white as it got, which made her stifle a laugh. Their t-shirts were baggy and their pants all hung down around the bottom of their butts. She leaned closer to Cerri. "It still amazes me that anyone can think they look cool dressed like that."

The girl turned and looked, snorting. "Jesus." She shook her head and turned back to the hot case. "I'm thinking Neo would probably want…"

"Hey, wassup girl?" One of the boys, wearing a yellow LA Lakers baseball cap said, moving up behind the pair of them.

Quan regarded him and had to turn away. He had a matching number 28 Tarik Black game jersey on over a baggy white t-shirt. She could see his black boxers. "Jesus Christ." She said, trying her best not to snicker. Granted, at current, she wasn't exactly the poster girl for fashion, in her tank top, cargos and steel toe boots. Cerri, in her Oregon Coast Aquarium shirt, black skinny jeans and sketcher tennis shoes was far more stylish.

"Just out of curiosity, which one of us are you talking to?" Cerri asked.

"You both fine as hell." He said, smoothing up.

"Then you have a problem, slick." Cerri said, turning toward him. She was notably shorter than him. "She's a lesbian and I'm only thirteen."

"Aw, tha's alright, baby." He said, getting closer. "I can show you how a _man_ gets down."

"So…you're a child molester." Cerri offered. "Is that what you're saying?"

He just gave her a slimy smile. "You look all grown up to me."

"That's it." Quan said, stepping in front of Cerri. "Get the fuck away from her you sick sack of shit." She stared down at him. "I'm not gonna tell you twice."

"Bitch, fuck you!" He said lifting the front of his shirt, showing her the semi-automatic pistol tucked into the front of his pants. The store clerk immediately ducked down behind the counter.

Quan could see things escalating very quickly. One of the boy's friends grabbed the phone and tore it free. She pushed Cerri behind her. "I can guarantee you I'll drop you before you ever skinned that smokewagon, son. You the gambling kind?"

Like an idiot, he went for it. His hand closed around the grip as her fist came down, colliding with his jaw. He was thrown to the side to slam into a Doritos display case. His three friends all pulled their weapons.

Quan concentrated on a pair of her tattoos. Suddenly the trio was moving in slow motion. She exploded into action. The first of the thugs caught a left back hand to the temple. The second tasted a crashing hard right cross. Both of them spun to the floor, groaning. She caught the third in the abdomen with a spear, crashing him into a shelf, sending merchandise all over the floor.

She rose to her feet and glared down at him. "Quan!" She heard Cerri squeal. She turned to see Lakers Fan with his gun against Cerri's head.

She growled and moved toward him. "You done fucked up, _boy_." Quan snarled in absolute rage. "Do yourself a favor and put the gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. It'll make it easier for you."

"Take one more step and I'll put a bullet in her fuckin' head." He said, suddenly fearful.

"No, you won't." Quan said. "Because you ain't that stupid." She was close to him now. "You're gonna die. Here. Now. In this shitty little fucking gas station."

He pointed the gun at her. "Stop fuckin' moving."

"You had one chance. I'm too close to you now. You don't have a hope in hell. Let her go and I might…"

She didn't finish her statement before he screamed as Cerri rammed the stun gun she carried into his crotch. "Mother fucker." The little girl snapped. His gun discharged. The bullet grazed Quan's left arm.

It didn't even slow her down. She raced toward him as Cerri dove aside. The huge tattooed fighter slammed her arms against his chest and forced him back, driving him into the cooler amid a torrent of broken glass and spilled booze. She stepped back and looked around, letting out her breaths in a hoarse growl. She then looked to Cerridwen. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but your arm." Cerri said, worried.

Suddenly sirens could be heard outside. Two police cars pulled up to the station in a hurry. Four officers came into the store, their guns drawn. "Everyone freeze!" One of them shouted.

Quan and Cerri both lifted their hands. She knew the drill. It wasn't the first time she'd been arrested. Both girls were placed in the back of a patrol car and taken in. Quan was kept in booking while Cerridwen was escorted off by herself with an officer and a woman in a gray skirt suit.

She turned to see three of the four boys being led into the station. Apparently the one she'd body blocked into the cooler had to go to the hospital. She didn't feel the least bit bad about it. The officers sat the three of them down beside her. The big woman sighed heavily and leaned back. It was going to be a long night.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Cerridwen was led into a small room with a nice wooden table with comfortable chairs and brightly painted walls. She chuckled and shook her head. She'd been in a similar situation before. Just after her mother died. That was also the night that she was put into Quan's custody.

Granted, she'd engineered the whole deal. Using the older girl's prepaid smart phone, Cerri hacked the state resources and listed one Annabelle Callahan as her legal guardian. The state had no choice but to release her to the big girl. That was almost two years ago.

Given what she'd just seen – which was really old hat to her – she was going to end up getting grilled by a child advocate. She was ready for it. It wasn't exactly normal shit for a thirteen year old girl to see, but at the same time, she didn't mind it too much. These people were just doing their jobs, after all.

The cops had searched them both and confiscated their stuff. Quan only carried her phone, wallet and keys with her. Cerri, however was little-miss-prepared. She had a silver buckle knife in her belt, a lock-pick set in a custom made rig around her left ankle and a vial of holy water concealed in the necklace she wore. She found it funny that the cops didn't search people anywhere near as well in real life as they did in the movies. The officers that frisked both her and Quan sifted through their pockets and that was it.

She was glad that they removed her handcuffs. No doubt with how utterly innocent she looked, they believed her just to be a victim of some sort. She sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms. _How little they knew_.

A few minutes later the woman that had escorted her with the officer into the room came back in, carrying with her a file folder. "Hi Cassandra. My name is Emily Blake. I'm with Child Protective Services." She took a seat across from the girl. "Are you doing okay?"

"Look, Emily. Can I call you Emily? I watched my g…guardian beat four men nearly to death. A guy pulled a gun and put it against my head. Trust me. That isn't the worst thing that's happened to me." Cerri offered.

"I see." Emily said, looking down at the folder. "So…since being placed with… Annabelle, you've experienced worse things than this?"

Cerri immediately saw what the woman was doing. She was trying to get her taken away from Quan and placed in a foster home. She wasn't the first woman to try. "No. Since Anna's been my guardian things couldn't be better. I was talking about my mom getting killed in front of my eyes. I'm sure all of that's in there." She pointed to the file. "Along with my psychological evaluation and the transcripts for the eight state mandated sessions with the child psychologist."

Emily looked at her and down at the folder. "How would you know all of that is in here?"

"You think you're the first child services flunky that's tried to get me taken away from Anna?" Cerri asked. "The last one literally hired a private investigator to stake out the warehouse me and my friends live at. We ended up getting him arrested and his license revoked for peeping at a bunch of underage girls at home. That and we own the ten acres of land our warehouse is on and he was found within that perimeter."

"You think that's what I'm trying to do?" Emily asked.

"You telling me it's not?" Cerri countered.

"No. I don't wanna take you from anyone. My job is to make sure you're safe. That's all."

"Yes, I'm safe. We done?" Cerri asked her.

"It's not that simple."

"For you." Cerri said.

"You said that you've never suffered anything overly traumatic since living with Anna, is that correct?" Cerri nodded, not sure where the woman was going. "I have your medical history right here. According to this, you broke your arm in three places. You claimed that you fell. Annabelle, Alice Frog, Sadiira and Nadiira Rajni all backed up the claim. But the doctors found that the fractures didn't coincide with a fall."

"Don't lie, Emily. You're not very good at it." Cerri said, matter of fact. "The doctor's findings were inconclusive. Meaning, he couldn't tell, with one hundred percent accuracy whether the breaks were due to a fall or not. He believed, in his personal opinion – of which he has not one shred of evidence mind you – that the fractures were caused by physical tortion and not by a fall."

"You've done your homework." Emily said. "Which begs the question why fight so hard to convince me that they weren't caused by someone?"

"Because I hate it when stupid people try to pass off opinion as fact. Pisses me off." Cerri said. "I fell over the railing on a loading dock. I tried to keep myself from biffing it. I grabbed the railing as I went over and twisted my arm. Boom. Immediate twisting breaks. In an X-ray, it would look just like I suffered some sort of abuse."

Emily looked at her and sighed heavily. "I'm just trying to help you, Cassandra. You're not making it easy."

"If you wanna help me, then let me go. I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not in danger of being abused or anything like that. I'm smart enough to know that I don't take candy from strangers, I don't get into cars with people who wanna show me their puppy and I don't answer the phone and tell people I'm alone. I've seen all the afterschool specials and know what the hell I'm doing. I also carry a stun gun and ain't afraid to use it. Don't matter how big a guy is, you crack him in the dick with ninety thousand volts and he's gonna fold like a table at Dudley Boyz wrestling match."

"What happened at the gas station?" Emily asked. "I wanna hear your version."

"A boy about sixteen, maybe seventeen came up to me and started hitting on me. I told him how old I was and he kept at it. I asked him if he was a child molester and he said yes. Anna told him to leave us alone and he flashed a gun." Cerri smiled. "Takes more than a gun to intimidate Anna."

"She wasn't afraid of being shot?" Emily asked, curiously.

"Not Anna. One bullet wouldn't kill her, anyway."

"How do you figure that?" Emily asked.

"Magic." Cerri responded. "So he got pushy and tried drawing down on her. She dropped him faster than a wedding dress on a honeymoon and moved to the other three. As soon as she put them down, the first guy, the one that was hitting on me pulled his gun and pointed it at me. I used my stun gun and fried his sack. That's when Anna chucked his ass into the beer cooler. Cops showed up a couple seconds after that."

Emily stared at her. "So…she deliberately put your life in danger?"

"Jesus Christ, lady." Cerri said, shaking her head and throwing her hands in the air. "Alright. Let me spell it out for you." She leaned forward. "I am safer with Anna, Alice, Sadiira and Nadiira that I would be literally anywhere else on earth. Do you know why?"

"Enlighten me." Emily said, crossing her arms.

"Because anything happens to me? The safeties come off. They go from being a singer, a bassist, a guitarist and a keyboardist to being the most terrifying four women you're likely ever to meet. Take a look at what she did to four boys with guns. And she did all that damage in the span of twenty three seconds. Imagine what she'd do if she was _really_ angry."

"You make her sound like the Incredible Hulk." Emily said.

"With one notable difference." Cerri stood and leaned closer to her. "The Hulk is science fiction."

Emily really wasn't sure what to make of the girl. According to her psychiatric evaluation, she was as stable as they came. She didn't seem to suffer any kind of fallout from the trauma she'd gone through. "I'd like you to speak with our psychologist." She said. "Just to be on the safe side."

"Fine." Cerri said. "Can I make a phone call, please?"

"To whom, if you don't mind me asking."

"To Geico. I wanna save on my car insurance. Who do you think? I gotta call Alice and let her know where I am. Otherwise they're gonna come looking. And trust me, you _really_ don't want that."

"And why is that?"

"Trust me, lady. Some things are better left a mystery." Cerri said.

Emily pulled her cellphone out and slid it across the table. "You can use mine."

"I'll put it on speaker for you." Cerri said, dialing Neo's cell.

"Who the fuck is this and how did you get my number?" Neo snapped.

"Neo, it's me." Cerri said. "Quan and I got arrested. Quan's rig as at the Chevron Station on Bayley just off of the highway. Someone should go and pick it up." Cerri was typing away on the phone as she talked.

"Why did you two get arrested? You need us to mount a rescue?" Neo asked. "The twins are looking for a reason to use their new toys."

That got Emily's attention. "What does she mean by that?"

"Who the fuck is that?" Neo asked, sharply.

"That's Emily. She's trying to get me taken away."

"You tell her what we'd do if she tried that shit?"

"More or less. She says she's not. I'm using her phone." Cerri said. "Don't worry. I'm not giving her anything to go on."

"Leave Cerri alone, lady." Neo growled. "I'll tear your head off and shit down your fuckin' neck, I swear to god."

"You have an extremely foul mouth, Miss Frog." Emily said.

"Whoa, Emily. Do _not_ call her that. I'm serious. She hates it with a passion. Neo or Alice. But never, _ever_ call her Miss Frog." Cerri said, her face like stone.

"I'm not trying to take anyone from anywhere, Alice."

"For your sake, lady you better fuckin' hope not." Neo snapped. "You want me to call anyone?"

"Not sure yet. I'll call again later." Cerri said.

"Talia and I are on the way to pick up the rig. Where's Quan?"

"She's probably in central booking. Might be a while until she can go anywhere. She's looking at a minimum of a serious destruction of property beef."

"Alright. We'll stay frosty. You need us you holler. We'll come in guns blazing." Neo said. "Peace out."

"Later." Cerri finished and handed the phone back. "I strongly suggest you remove those pictures and you should eat a lot better than you do. It would help your blood sugar problem."

"What?" Emily said, looking at her phone.

"The pictures were nice to send to your girlfriend when she was overseas, but now that she's back, there's really no need to keep lingerie shots of yourself on your phone. Nice choice, by the way. Victoria Secret's Summer catalog last year was a really nice one. Lotta good choices. And you look good in green. Stop eating so much pizza and Italian take out. That shit's loaded with sugars and carbs. Not good for someone of your health."

"How…how did you learn all of that?" Emily asked. She was staring at her phone as of it had betrayed her.

"Never hand someone your phone unless you're a hundred percent certain there's nothing on it you don't want them to see." Cerri said. "So am I gonna…"

"What did she mean when she said they'd come in 'guns blazing'?"

"Back to this again, are we?" Cerri rubbed her face in her hands. "Fine. Neo is a world class fighter. She's freakishly strong and doesn't stop until what she's fighting with stops moving, she passes out or dies. The twins have enough firepower – and by that I mean guns, explosives and ordance – to fight a war. If I gave the word, they'd level this building to get to me. And do you know what the worst part of that is? They wouldn't even so much as _see_ a courtroom for it."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm supposed to be speaking with a child psychologist, remember?" Cerri said, grinning.

Emily left the room pale faced. She wanted to get away from the girl. Having watched the entire exchange from behind the one-way mirror, the psychologist swallowed and prepared herself. She entered the room as Emily trotted out.

"Your name is Cassandra Hills but you prefer Cerri, right?" The woman asked as she moved to sit down.

"That's right. What's your name, Doctor?" Cerri asked leaning back, crossing her legs and resting her hand on her knee.

"I'm Rhonda Pearl."

"Rhonda. No doubt named from your grandmother. Probably on your father's side." Cerri said. "Most baby boomers had to suffer that kind of indignity."

Rhonda for her part chuckled. "Very astute. You're absolutely right. My grandmother on my father's side was named Rhonda." She again regarded Cerri. "I take it you're used to being the smartest person in the room, aren't you?"

"That's why I'm the brains of the band."

"How do you like being in a rock band?" She asked. "Do you enjoy it?"

"Of course. It's fun as hell." Cerri looked at her for a long moment. "How come you're not asking me questions to determine if I'm crazy or something like that?"

"Because I don't need to." Rhonda said. "I already know you're not."

"How do you know that?" Cerri asked. "How do you know I'm not just a good actress?"

Rhonda stared at her. She slowly pulled her wide-band watch off and leaned forward showing Cerri. There, pale against her skin was the faded scars of a vampire bite. "Let's just say I'm a bit more experienced than your average shrink."

Cerri smiled at her. "How long ago?"

"A year ago. I was working in Sunnydale." The woman said, putting her watch back on.

"Let me guess. A pretty little blonde girl saved your ass?"

"Nope. Some brunette biker-slut wannabe. Had a tattoo on her arm and wild-ass hair."

"Sounds like Faith." Cerri said to herself. "So…what are you gonna do with me?"

"Do you feel safe where you're at?" Rhonda asked.

"Of course I do."

"That's all you'll ever have to say to me." She said, rising to her feet. "I'm gonna recommend that you be released into the custody of one Talia Turner. I'll have an officer give you a ride home."

"What about Anna?" Cerri asked.

"That's a bit more difficult." Rhonda said. "She's facing disturbing the peace, destruction of property and at least four cases of aggravated assault."

"But they all had guns and were going to shoot her. One guy _did_." Cerri said. "Doesn't that matter?"

"I'm not a lawyer, Cerri. I don't know. Given that the four of them all had priors and Quan doesn't, she might be out of here by tonight."

"I hope so." Cerri said, sadly.

"There…there is something else that you need to know." Rhonda said, her voice filled with concern.

"What's that?"

"Those four boys your big friend put the hurt on? They're part of a gang here in Newport. They call themselves the Coast 3-0. They came to town about two, three years ago. They're involved in all sorts of criminal activity, but the police can never seem to catch any of them doing anything. They always have alibis for whatever goes down. And the city folk never see anything."

Cerri listened to his and couldn't help but smile. "So you're saying they might wanna get back at us?"

"It's possible." Rhonda said.

Cerri began giggling, then it turned into a full on maniacal laugh. "Oh, Neo is gonna love hearing that. Looks like Newport just got a lot less boring."

Quan went through the motions of getting booked. She'd been through the procedure before and didn't give the officers any reason to be rough with her. If the big scary cop with a gun tells you to do something, you do it and don't give him any shit. The thugs she came in with all got buck with the cops and ended up tasting dirt.

She knew full well being the biggest person in the room, they were glad not to have any problems from her. Truth be told, if she were of a mind to, she could have popped her cuffs and tore through the station to get out, but she didn't see a reason to. She knew full well that Cerri was safe, wherever she was. Surrounded by cops, she didn't expect anything to happen to the girl.

She was placed in a holding cell with a couple of other women. Her arm had been bandaged up. She leaned against the wall and kept her eyes on the two girls that were in with her. One of them was a slightly heavy set Asian woman that was sound asleep. The smell of booze on her told Quan exactly why she was here. The other, a tall leggy blonde with just about the most enormous fake breasts Quan had ever seen outside of porn stared back at her. She was rocking an extremely short leather miniskirt and a matching blouse that showed a treasure trove of artificially inflated cleavage and a pair of high heels that would probably make her as near as makes no difference Quan's height. She had to give the girl credit. She had a hell of a smile. Her hair was an obvious dye job, as her jet black roots were visible, but overall, she was pretty. Quan returned the smile. She didn't see a reason to be rude.

As soon as she did, the blonde got up and moved over, sitting down next to her. She offered her hand. "Bernie."

"Quan." Taking the girl's hand. She had a decent grip as far as girls went.

"You don't look like a Quan." The girl said.

"Well, the last person I met named Bernie was a forty year old insurance salesman from Albuquerque that still lived with his mom." Quan said with a grin.

Bernie laughed. It was a pleasant sound. "Let me guess. Stage name?"

"More or less." The big girl said. "I play bass guitar in a band."

"Demon Queller. I know. I recognized you when you came in. I've got tickets for your show." She bit her lip. "I was um…kind a hopin' to get backstage."

"Really?" Quan asked her. "Well, I hope it ain't me you were after. I'm kinda taken."

"Oh, what I wouldn't give." Bernie said, looking Quan over. "I'm betting all that skin art tastes just as good as it looks. But I got my favorites." She gave Quan an avarice smile. "I like dark meat."

"The twins?" As Bernie nodded, Quan laughed. "You do set your sights high."

"Hey, go big or go home." Bernie offered.

"Well, you wouldn't be the first groupie they've dragged to their bed. What are you in here for?"

"Theft of services." Bernie said. "I got into a cab and when I wanted to pay with a credit card, he said no, so I ditched out. I asked when I got in if he took debit and he said yes. We got to the motel and he said that he didn't and I had to pay cash. I didn't have enough on me, so I told him to fuck off and left. He said he'd take sex and I punched him in his teeth. Cops arrested me in my room about ten minutes later."

"Why not just pull some cash out of the ATM and pay him?" Quan asked.

"It was the principal of the thing. The cop understood, but the cabby wants to press charges."

"Well, does the cab have a camera?" Quan asked.

"I don't know." Bernie said. "I hope so. Make things a lot easier."

The door of the cell opened and an officer stepped in. "Annabelle Callahan?" He asked, motioning her toward him.

"Good luck." Bernie said, patting the big woman's knee. Quan rose to her feet, walked to the officer and turned around, putting her hands behind her back. He put the cuffs on her, taking care not to make them too tight.

She followed him as he led her to what looked like a typical interrogation room. He removed one of them to secure her arms in front of her. "Have a seat." He said, motioning to the chair. "Get you something to drink?"

"Just some water, if that's okay." She said, sitting down. A moment later, he set the red solo cup of water in front of her then left the room.

A minute or two later, a tall redhead woman with a Detective's badge on her belt and a Glock on her hip came in, carrying a stack of file folders. She wasn't quite to Quan's height, but she was still taller than most men. She moved over and sat opposite the big woman. "Annabelle Callahan, I'm Detective Mason. I'm gonna get right to the point. You're looking at serious charges."

"I know." Quan said, simply.

"That doesn't bother you?" Mason asked her. "You're looking at jail time."

"Of course it bothers me. But there ain't nothin' I can do about it, now is there?"

"What happened?" The Detective asked as she looked at the papers in her folder.

"You have my report. Chances are good you read it. Story ain't gonna change." Quan said. "I got no reason to lie about any of it. I'm proud as hell of what I did. Those ass-hats deserved what I did to 'em. If I gotta put time in orange because of it, then I'm willin' to pay the price. I mean, they had guns and didn't seem afraid to use 'em."

"Did you intend on pressing charges?" Mason asked.

"If it'll do any good, sure." Quan said, shrugging.

"The way they tell it, you were crazed and started attacking them and they were defending themselves."

"Yeah, because I make a habit of trying to beat the shit out of people with guns." Quan said, sarcastically. "I'm brave, not stupid."

"Are you friends with a girl named Alice Frog?"

"Sure am. She's the lead singer in our band." Quan said, nodding. "And in the clutch you won't find anyone better at watchin' your back."

"Do you find yourselves in that position often? Having to watch each other's backs?"

"We live in Portland, Detective. There's all sorts of crazies. You always gotta watch your back."

"What would you say if I told you Alice believes in monsters and vampires?"

"I'd say good for her." Quan said, simply.

"Are you saying you don't?" Mason asked her.

"I didn't say anything of the kind."

"So you _do_ believe in that sort of thing."

"Didn't say that either." Quan offered.

"What exactly do you believe, Miss Callahan?" Mason asked, curious.

"I believe in the possibility that we live in a world where strange things that we can't explain happen every day. Either people don't believe it, or they just don't want to. I believe that there are always facets of the universe that mankind can't comprehend and probably isn't meant to."

"Do you believe in vampires?" Mason asked, point blank.

"Doesn't matter what I believe. Not believing in the devil isn't going to protect you from him."

"Why are you avoiding the question?" Mason asked. She was starting to get frustrated.

"Because it doesn't fucking matter." Quan snapped. "Whether I believe in the fucking tooth fairy or not don't mean but two things. Jack and shit. And Jack's on a bus out of town. Right now the only thing that matters is that I had four guys looking to gun me and my friend down and I put a fuckin' stop to it. _That's_ what's important."

"Then let's discuss that." Detective Mason said. "You did over eleven thousand dollars worth of damage to the store…"

"Which I'll pay for." Quan interjected.

"You put one boy in the hospital with multiple fractures and lacerations…"

"After her shot me." Quan snapped.

"All told, you're looking at a minimum of two years in prison. Perhaps twelve months for good behavior." She looked at Quan. "Or are you going to tell me that you have connections and won't ever see the inside of a jail cell?"

"Don't know." Quan said. "I do know it's contingent upon these guys pressing charges. As it is, each of them are looking at possession of an illegal firearm, brandishing a firearm in public and carrying without a permit. Not to mention attempted murder. And with their rapsheets, their credibility is shot. The chances are good if it went to jury, I'd be off scott free."

Detective Mason sighed heavily. "It seems none of them are pressing charges." She looked at Quan. She then got up and moved over, pulling the wire out of the back of the camera. "No we're alone." She said, sitting back down. "Level with me, Anna. What is the story with you and your friends?"

"What do you mean, Detective?"

"I wanna know what I can expect." Mason said. "Those four boys are part of a rather large gang. The Coast 3-0. They're a big deal in this town. And you've challenged that. That's gonna make you and your friends targets." She shook her head. "I don't want a war, Annabelle. I don't need it. This town doesn't need it."

Quan stared at her. "I can't make that kind of promise, Detective." She let out a despondent sigh. "I wish I could. But we're a family. If these guys are gonna start pushing, we're gonna push back. It's the way we are. It's the way we've always been."

"We don't want vigilantism, Miss Callahan."

"That ain't what you'll get, Detective. That isn't our style. At least not for punk ass little shits like this. But they come at is, all bets are off. We'll do what we have to."

"I just don't…" Mason started as her cellular phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at it. She didn't recognize the number. She tapped it and answered. "Hello?"

"Detective Melissa Mason?" A stern male voice asked.

"Speaking."

"Put the phone on speaker, please." The man requested. She did as she was told. "Annabelle, can you hear me?"

"Who is this?" Quan asked.

"I'm Admiral Jonathan Danforth of the United States Navy." He gave his serial number. "Are you well, young lady?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Detective Mason. This is what you're going to do. I don't like repeating myself so listen very carefully. You are going to remove Anna's handcuffs. You are then going to release her from custody, return her belongings to her and apologize for any inconvenience you have caused her."

"She's…"

"Was there anything in my tone of voice that made that sound like a suggestion, Detective? I believe I made myself quite clear." Danforth said. "Once her handcuffs are off, give her the phone please."

Mason pulled her keys out and undid Quan's cuffs. "Thanks." The big woman said. She took the phone. "Okay, Admiral."

"Please take it off speaker." He said. Melissa reached over and tapped the button.

Quan smiled at her and lifted it to her ear. "Yes, sir?"

"I was faxed the report. Are you alright? It said you'd gotten shot."

"I'm fine, sir. It was just a graze. I've gotten worse from shaving. The medic on staff did a wonderful job."

"Good to know. From everything we've gathered, Newport is a dead zone for the paranormal. Why are you all there?"

"We're on tour, Admiral. This was just a date on the calendar." Quan offered. "But apparently there is a gang here."

"Yes, we know. The Coast 3-0. A sort of subset of the Crips. At least that's what they see themselves as."

"The Detective thinks they might try coming after us for what I did to some of their boys." Quan said. "Is she telling the truth?"

"It's a possibility." Danforth said. "If that's the case, what are you lot going to do?"

"Whatever we have to." Quan said. "We don't wanna start a war, but we aren't afraid to fight one."

"Heaven help me, I know." Danforth said. "I just don't want it spilling over into the streets."

"What do you suggest?"

"The only thing I can think of is to get you lot away from the public. I'm going to make a couple of calls. I want you and the rest of the girls to head to the Airport there. I'm going to have a spot cleared for you to park your rigs and your trailer. That way if anything happens, it's going to be hard to get to you."

"Yes, sir. We'll get on that as soon as possible." Quan offered.

"Good. Now let me talk to the Detective."

"He wants to talk to you."

Mason took the phone and slowly put to her ear. "Admiral?"

"Detective Mason. I've read your jacket. You've had a rather successful career. From what your superiors have said, you have good instincts. They also said that you know how to follow orders. That's a good thing, Detective. That's a very good thing. Because this is an order. You are to stop harassing those girls. Alice Frog, Cassandra Hills, Annabelle Callahan, Sadiira and Nadiira Rajni are off limits to you and your force, is that understood?"

"It is, sir. May I ask a question, sir?"

"Yes, you may."

"Why are you going to bat for them? Are they that important?" She asked.

"That's really need to know, Detective. And you don't. But in the interest of interagency cooperation, I will say this. They are more than just a rock band. They have a very specific function in my universe. And when you keep dragging them into interrogation rooms to do who knows what, you fuck up my universe. I don't like that. So you and the rest of the Newport PD is going to leave them all alone. They're good girls doing a hard job and they don't need you or any other Barney Fife wannabe getting in their way. And if you've got a gang problem in your city, then you've failed at your job, Detective. Because if those boys are as stupid as they sound, that problem is gonna get solved very shortly. And the collateral damage that results in going to be on your head for not taking the threat more seriously. Demon Queller is on the government payroll. So stay out of their way and they'll be nice enough to not burn Newport to the ground and litter the streets with bullets, bodies and blood. Good day, Detective." He ended the call, leaving the pair to stare at each other.

"What did he say?" Quan asked her.

"He just took all your leashes off." Mason said, softly. "And that we, being the entire Newport Police Department, are to stay out of your way."

"Don't worry, Detective. We have no intention of starting a war in your city."

"You're wrong, Anna. You already have." Mason said, sadly.


End file.
